1947 in sports

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Athletics

Athletics (track and field)

Track and field athletics, commonly known as athletics or track and field, is a collection of sports events that involve running, throwing and jumping....

Marathon

• August 20 — Enschede Marathon
  Enschede Marathon
  
  The Enschede Marathon is an annual marathon race held in the city of Enschede, Netherlands. The race is the distance of a typical marathon . It has been held annually since 1991, after being bi-annual for the previous 44 years....
  , Netherlands
  Netherlands
  
  The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
  
• Men's Winner: Eero Riikonen (FIN) 2:44:13

• December 7 — Fukuoka Marathon
  Fukuoka Marathon
  
  The , held in Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan, is a prominent international Marathon race established in 1947. It is usually held on first Sunday in December....
  , Japan
  Japan
  
  Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
  
• Men's Winner: Toshikazu Wada (JPN) 2:45:45

Auto racing

Auto racing

Auto racing is a motorsport involving racing cars. It is one of the world's most watched television sports....

• Wally Parks
  Wally Parks
  
  Wallace Gordon Parks was instrumental in establishing drag racing as a legitimate amateur and professional motorsport. He was the Founder, President, and the Chairman of the Board of the National Hot Rod Association, or better known by the acronym NHRA....
   founds the Southern California Timing Association, to better organize drag racing
  Drag racing
  
  Drag racing is a competition in which vehicles compete to be the first to cross a set finish line, usually from a dead stop, and in a straight line....
  .

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport of nine players each. The goal of baseball is to score run by hitting a thrown Baseball with a baseball bat and touching a series of four markers called base arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot square, or diamond. Players on one team take turns hitting against...

• Jackie Robinson
  Jackie Robinson
  
  Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first African-American Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Although not the first African-American professional baseball player in United States history, Robinson's 1947 Major League debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers ended approximately 60 years of baseball Racial_segregation#United_States_...
   becomes the first African-American baseball player in Major League Baseball
  Major League Baseball
  
  Major League Baseball is the highest level of play in American professional baseball. Specifically, Major League Baseball refers to the organization that operates the National League and the American League, by means of a joint organizational structure that has developed gradually between them since 1903 ....
  .

• April 27 - Babe Ruth
  Babe Ruth
  
  George Herman Ruth, Jr. , also popularly known as "Babe", "The Bambino", and "The Sultan of Swat", was an United States Major League Baseball baseball player from –....
   day was celebrated all across the Major Leagues, Babe himself appeared in Yankee Stadium
  Yankee Stadium
  
  The original Yankee Stadium is a stadium located in The Bronx in New York City, New York. It served as the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees from 1923 in baseball to 1973 in baseball and after extensive renovations, from 1976 in baseball to 2008 in baseball....
  . Although stricken with throat cancer, Ruth said to the audience "The only real game I think in the world is baseball."

• World Series
  World Series
  
  The World Series is the championship series of Major League Baseball, the culmination of the sport's playoff each October. Since the Series takes place in mid-autumn, sportswriters many years ago dubbed the event the Fall Classic, a usage reflected in the logo for the 2008 World Series; it is also sometimes known as the October Clas...
   - New York Yankees
  New York Yankees
  
  The New York Yankees are a professional baseball based in the Borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York and are a member of the American League East of Major League Baseball's American League....
   beat Brooklyn Dodgers
  Brooklyn Dodgers
  
  The Brooklyn Dodgers were an American baseball team based in Brooklyn, New York City, playing in the National League from 1890 until 1957. The team was first known as the Brooklyn Bridegrooms and later the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers before being shortened to the Brooklyn Dodgers....
   4 games to 3.

Boxing

Boxing

Boxing is a combat sport where two participants, generally of similar human weight, fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is typically engaged in during a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds....

• Rocky Graziano
  Rocky Graziano
  
  Rocky Graziano, born Thomas Rocco Barbella in New York City , was an United States Boxing. Graziano was considered one of the greatest knockout artists in boxing history, often displaying the capacity to take his opponent out with a single punch....
   defeats Tony Zale
  Tony Zale
  
  Anthony Florian Zaleski was an United States boxing. Zale was born and raised in Gary, Indiana, a steel town, which gave him his nickname,"Man of Steel." In addition, he had the reputation of being able to take fearsome punishment and still rally to win, reinforcing that nickname....
   to win boxing’s world middleweight championship.
• December 5 - Joe Louis
  Joe Louis
  
  Joseph Louis Barrow , better known as Joe Louis, was a List of Heavyweight Champions.Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, he is considered to be one of the greatest in boxing history....
   defeats Jersey Joe Walcott
  Jersey Joe Walcott
  
  Arnold Raymond Cream , better known as Jersey Joe Walcott, was a world heavyweight boxing champion. He broke the world's record for the oldest man to win the world's Heavyweight title when he earned it at the age of 37....
   to retain his heavyweight championship

Figure skating

Figure skating

Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform figure skating spins, figure skating jumps, moves in the field and other intricate and challenging moves on ice....

• World Figure Skating Championships
  World Figure Skating Championships
  
  The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skating compete for the title of World Champion....
  
• Men's champion: Hans Gerschwiler
  Hans Gerschwiler
  
  Hans Gerschwiler was a Switzerland figure skating....
  , Switzerland
  Switzerland
  
  Switzerland is a landlocked Swiss Alps country of roughly 7.7 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km?. Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called Cantons of Switzerland....
  
• Ladies' champion: Barbara Ann Scott
  Barbara Ann Scott
  
  Barbara Ann Scott is a Canadian retired figure skater. She is the Figure skating at the 1948 Winter Olympics....
  , Canada
  Canada
  
  Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
  
• Pair skating champions: Micheline Lannoy
  Micheline Lannoy
  
  Micheline Lannoy was a Belgium Figure skating. She, with her partner Pierre Baugniet, won the pair skating event at the 1948 Winter Olympics. They also won two World Figure Skating Championships in 1947 and 1948, and the European Figure Skating Championships in 1947....
   & Pierre Baugniet
  Pierre Baugniet
  
  Pierre Baugniet was a Belgium Figure skating. He, with his partner Micheline Lannoy, won the pair skating event at the 1948 Winter Olympics. They also won two World Figure Skating Championships in 1947 and 1948, and the European Figure Skating Championships in 1947....
  , Belgium
  Belgium
  
  * A small German-speaking Community of Belgium exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the history of Belgium and a complex Communities and regions of Belgium....
  

Football

Football

File:Football4.pngFootball is the word given to a number of similar team sports, all of which involve kicking a ball with the foot in an attempt to score a Goal ....
 (NFL)

• The Chicago Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles
  Philadelphia Eagles
  
  The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. They are members of the NFC East of the National Football Conference in the National Football League ....
   28-21.

Football

Football

File:Football4.pngFootball is the word given to a number of similar team sports, all of which involve kicking a ball with the foot in an attempt to score a Goal ....
 (Australian

Australian rules football

Australian football, or simply known as football, footy, Aussie rules or as AFL, is a team sport played between two teams of 18 players with a football in the shape of a prolate spheroid....
)

• Victorian Football League
  Victorian Football League
  
  The Victorian Football League, formerly known as the Victorian Football Association is the premier league in Victoria. It is also known as the VFA/VFL, is the second-oldest Australian rules football league, formed in 1877, replacing the loose affiliation of clubs that had been the hallmark of the Australian Rules Football - Early...
  
• Carlton
  Carlton Football Club
  
  Carlton Football Club, nicknamed The Blues, is the third oldest club in the Australian Football League and List of Australian rules football clubs by date of establishment Australian rules football clubs....
   wins the 51st VFL Premiership (Carlton 13.8 (86) d Essendon
  Essendon Football Club
  
  Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club and is part of the Australian Football League. Formed in 1871 as a junior club and as a senior club in 1873, it is Headquarters at the Essendon Recreation Reserve, Windy Hill, Essendon in the Melbourne suburb of Essendon, Victoria, but match day home...
   11.17 (83))
• Brownlow Medal
  Brownlow Medal
  
  The Chas Brownlow Trophy ? better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating umpires after each game....
   awarded to Bert Deacon
  Bert Deacon
  
  Bert Deacon was an Australian rules footballer who played for Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League . He is remembered for being Carlton's first ever Brownlow Medal winner....
   (Carlton)

Football (soccer)

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players, and is widely considered to be the most popular sport in the world....

England

• First Division
  Football League First Division
  
  The Football League First Division was the highest division of The Football League between 1993 and 2004, and the highest division of Football in England overall between 1892 and 1992....
   - Liverpool
  Liverpool F.C.
  
  Liverpool Football Club is a professional association football club based in Liverpool, England. The club plays in the Premier League, and it is the Football records in England#Most successful clubs overall in the history of Football in England; the club has won List of football clubs in England by major honours won than any other English cl...
   win the 1946-47
  1946-47 in English football
  
  The 1946-47 season was the 67th season of competitive football in England....
   title.
• FA Cup
  FA Cup
  
  The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a Single-elimination tournament cup competition in Football in England, run by and named after The Football Association....
   - Charlton Athletic
  Charlton Athletic F.C.
  
  Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football football team based in Charlton, London, in the London Borough of Greenwich....
   beat Burnley
  Burnley F.C.
  
  Burnley Football Club, nicknamed The Clarets, are a professional English association football club managed by Owen Coyle and based in Burnley, Lancashire....
   1-0 after extra time

Golf

Golf

Golf is a sport in which players using many types of Golf club including wood , iron , and putter , attempt to hit golf ball into each hole on a golf course in the lowest possible number of strokes....
 

• April 3-6 - Masters Tournament - Jimmy Demaret
  Jimmy Demaret
  
  James Newton Demaret was an United States professional golfer. He won 31 PGA Tour events in a long career between 1935 and 1957 and was the first three-time winner of the The Masters Tournament....
  
• June 12-15 - U.S. Open
  U.S. Open (golf)
  
  The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual Open Golf Tournaments of the United States. It is the second of the four men's major golf championships in golf and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the PGA European Tour....
   - Lew Worsham
  Lew Worsham
  
  Lewis Elmer "Lew" Worsham, Jr. was an United States golfer. He was born in Pittsylvania County, Virginia and died in Poquoson, Virginia.In 1947 he won the U.S....
  
• June 24 - PGA Championship
  PGA Championship
  
  The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers Association of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four men's major golf championships in professional golf, and it is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August ....
   - Jim Ferrier
  Jim Ferrier
  
  James B. Ferrier was an Australian professional golfer from Manly, New South Wales.Ferrier was born in Sydney, Australia. He was a runner up in the 1931 Australian Open at the age of sixteen and won the Australian Amateur title in 1935, 1936, 1938 and 1939....
  
• July 1-4 - British Open
  The Open Championship
  
  The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four men's major golf championships in men's golf. It is the only major held outside the USA and is administered by the R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico....
   - Fred Daly
  Fred Daly (golfer)
  
  Fred Daly was a Northern Irish professional golfer who was best known for winning The Open Championship of 1947 at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake....
  

• British Amateur
  The Amateur Championship
  
  The Amateur Championship is a golf tournament which is held in the United Kingdom. In the rest of the world, it is often known as the "British Amateur" or the "British Amateur Championship"....
   - Willie Turnesa
  Willie Turnesa
  
  William P. Turnesa was an United States amateur golfer, best known for winning two U.S. Amateur titles and the British Amateur. He was one of seven famous golfing brothers; Phil , Frank , Joe Turnesa , Mike Turnesa , Doug , Jim Turnesa , and Willie ....
  
• U.S. Amateur - Skee Riegel
  Skee Riegel
  
  Robert Henry "Skee" Riegel was an United States professional golfer.Riegel attended United States Military Academy, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and Lafayette College where he played football and baseball but not golf....
  

• Women's Western Open
  Western Open (women's golf)
  
  The women's Western Open was a professional golf tournament which was first played in 1930. The LPGA was established in 1950, and it recognized the Western Open as one of its women's majors until 1967....
   - Louise Suggs
  Louise Suggs
  
  Mae Louise Suggs is a veteran United States professional golfer and one of the founders of the LPGA Tour and thus modern ladies' golf....
  
• U.S. Women's Open
  United States Women's Open Championship (golf)
  
  The United States Women's Open Golf Championship, one of thirteen national championships conducted by the United States Golf Association , is one of the LPGA's women's major golf championships along with the LPGA Championship, the Women's British Open, and the Kraft Nabisco Championship....
   - Betty Jameson
  Betty Jameson
  
  Elizabeth May "Betty" Jameson was an United States professional golfer and one of the founders of the LPGA....
  
• Titleholders Championship
  Titleholders Championship
  
  There have been two professional golf tournaments for women named the Titleholders Championship. The first was of the original women's majors. The 1990s tournament was a standard event on the LPGA Tour....
   - Babe Zaharias
  Babe Zaharias
  
  Mildred Ella Didrikson Zaharias was an United States athlete named by the Guinness Book of Records, along with Lottie Dod, as the most versatile female competitor of all time....
  

Horse Racing

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrianism sport that has been practiced over the centuries; the chariot racing of Ancient Rome are an early example, as is the contest of the steeds of the god Odin and the giant Hrungnir in Norse mythology....
 

• May 3 - Kentucky Derby
  Kentucky Derby
  
  The Kentucky Derby is a graded stakes race for three year-old Thoroughbreds, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival....
   - Jet Pilot
  Jet Pilot
  
  Jet Pilot was an United States Thoroughbred horse racing. Owned by cosmetics queen Elizabeth Arden, he raced under her Maine Chance Farm colors....
  
• Preakness - Faultless: this race is remembered for Clem McCarthy
  Clem McCarthy
  
  Clem McCarthy was an American sportscaster and public address announcer. He also lent his voice to Pathe News's RKO newsreels.He was known for his gravelly voice and dramatic style, a "whiskey tenor" as sports announcer and executive David J....
   calling Jet Pilot the winner when in reality it was Faultless, a true major radio blunder
  Blunder
  
  A blunder is a particularly bad mistake. Specific instances include:* List of incidents famously considered great blunders* Blunder * Hopetoun Blunder, an event in Australian history...
  
• Belmont Stakes
  Belmont Stakes
  
  The Belmont Stakes is a prestigious United States Graded stakes race held yearly in June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The race is the third and final leg of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, following five weeks after the Kentucky Derby, and three weeks after the Preakness Stakes....
   - Phalanx

Snooker

Snooker

Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a large baize-covered snooker table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions....

• World Snooker Championship
  World Snooker Championship
  
  The World Snooker Championship, held at the Crucible Theatre in the English city of Sheffield, is the climax of snooker's annual calendar and the most important snooker event of the year in terms of prestige, prize money and Snooker world rankings....
  : Walter Donaldson
  Walter Donaldson (snooker player)
  
  Walter Donaldson was a Scotland professional snooker player.He turned professional aged just 16, in 1923. He contested many world championships, finally achieving victory in 1947 after Joe Davis had retired from the tournament, and again in 1950....
   beats Fred Davis 82-63.

Awards

• Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year
  Associated Press Athlete of the Year
  
  The first Athlete of the Year award in the United States was initiated by the Associated Press in 1931. At a time when women in sports were never given the same recognition as men, the AP offered a male and a female athlete of the year award to either a professional or amateur athlete....
  : Johnny Lujack
  Johnny Lujack
  
  John Christopher Lujack Jr. is a former American football quarterback and 1947 Heisman Trophy winner.Lujack was born on January 4, 1925 in the Pittsburgh suburb of Connellsville, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania....
  , College football
  College football
  
  College football is American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American University, colleges, and United States military academies....
  
• Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year
  Associated Press Athlete of the Year
  
  The first Athlete of the Year award in the United States was initiated by the Associated Press in 1931. At a time when women in sports were never given the same recognition as men, the AP offered a male and a female athlete of the year award to either a professional or amateur athlete....
  : Babe Didrikson Zaharias
  Babe Zaharias
  
  Mildred Ella Didrikson Zaharias was an United States athlete named by the Guinness Book of Records, along with Lottie Dod, as the most versatile female competitor of all time....
  , LPGA golf
  LPGA
  
  The LPGA, in full the Ladies Professional Golf Association, is an American organization for female professional golfers. The organization, whose headquarters are in Daytona Beach, Florida, is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world that runs from Feb...
  

Births

January

• January 1 — Juan Martínez, Mexican long-distance runner
• January 18 — Sachio Kinugasa
  Sachio Kinugasa
  
  Sachio Kinugasa is a former Japanese people baseball player, nicknamed Tetsujin, meaning Iron Man.He passed Lou Gehrig's world record for consecutive games played in 1987....
  , Japanese baseball player
• January 20 — Cyrille Guimard
  Cyrille Guimard
  
  Cyrille Guimard is a France former professional road racing cyclist who became famous as the directeur sportif for two famous French cyclists and Tour de France winners: Bernard Hinault and Laurent Fignon, and Belgian Lucien Van Impe, who won the Tour in 1976 under his guidance....
  , French racing cyclist
• January 25 — Bruce Bradley
  Bruce Bradley
  
  Myron Bruce Bradley is a retired water polo player from the United States, who competed in two consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1968....
  , American water polo player
• January 31 — Nolan Ryan
  Nolan Ryan
  
  Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. is a retired pitcher in Major League Baseball and current president of the Texas Rangers . Ryan played in a major league record 27 seasons for the New York Mets, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers , from to ....
  , Baseball Hall of Famer

February

• February 1 — Gaston Rahier
  Gaston Rahier
  
  Gaston Rahier was a motocross racer from Belgium. He was three-time F?d?ration Internationale de Motocyclisme List of motocross World Championship results in the 125cc division, claiming the title in 1975, 1976 and 1977....
  , Belgian motocross racer (d. 2005)
• February 5 — Darrell Waltrip
  Darrell Waltrip
  
  Darrell Lee Waltrip is a three-time former NASCAR Championship champion, the 1989 Daytona 500 winner, current television race commentator with Fox Broadcasting Company and columnist at Foxsports.com....
  , American automobile racer and broadcaster
• February 18 — Gary Sheerer
  Gary Sheerer
  
  Gary Peter Sheerer is a retired water polo player from the United States, who competed in two consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1968....
  , American polo player
• February 28 — Wlodzimierz Lubanski
  Wlodzimierz Lubanski
  
  Wlodzimierz 'Wlodek' Leonard Lubanski is a former Poland football striker, the all-time goal scorer for the Poland national football team. He was considered the best Polish striker ever....
  , Polish football (soccer) striker

March

• March 3 — Ian O'Brien
  Ian O'Brien
  
  Ian Lovett O'Brien is a former Australian breaststroke swimmer of the 1960s, who won the 200 metre breaststroke at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in world record time....
  , Australian breaststroke swimmer
• March 7 — Walter Röhrl
  Walter Röhrl
  
  Walter R?hrl is a German rallying and auto motor-racing driver, with victories for Fiat, Opel, Lancia and Audi as well as Porsche, Ford Motor Company and BMW....
  , German car racer
• March 10 — Zachary Zorn
  Zachary Zorn
  
  Zachary Zorn is a former swimmer from the United States, who won the 4x100 m freestyle relay at the 1968 Summer Olympics. He won gold along with other swimmers such as Mark Spitz....
  , American swimmer
• March 21 — Ferenc Szekeres
  Ferenc Szekeres
  
  Ferenc Szekeres is a retired long-distance Running from Hungary, who twice won the Amsterdam Marathon, in 1979 and 1981. He represented his native country in at two Summer Olympics: 1972 and 1980....
  , Hungarian long-distance runner
• March 26 — John van Reenen
  John van Reenen
  
  John van Reenen is a retired discus thrower from South Africa, who is best known for setting the world record in the men's discus event in the spring of 1975....
  , South African discus thrower

April

• April 5 — Ðurdica Bjedov
  Ðurdica Bjedov
  
  ?urda Bjedov was the only SFR Yugoslavia swimmer to ever win a gold medal at the Olympic Games in swimming. She was born and raised in Split , Croatia....
  , Yugoslav breaststroke swimmer
• April 15 — Onny Parun
  Onny Parun
  
  Onny Parun is a former tennis player from New Zealand, who was among the world?s top 20 for five years and in 1971 and 1972 he reached the quarterfinals at The Championships, Wimbledon....
  , New Zealand tennis player

May

• May 9 — Hans-Peter Gies
  Hans-Peter Gies
  
  Hans-Peter Gies is a retired male shot putter, who competed for East Germany during his career. A two-time Olympian he set his personal best in the men's shot put event on 1972-08-25 at a meet in Potsdam....
  , East German shot putter
• May 21 — Hans Hoogveld
  Hans Hoogveld
  
  Johannes Bernardus Everardus Hoogveld is a former water polo player from The Netherlands, who competed in two consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1968....
  , Dutch water polo player
• May 22 — Alberto Alberani
  Alberto Alberani
  
  Alberto Alberani Samaritani is a retired water polo player from Italy, who competed in four consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1968 Summer Olympics....
  , Italian water polo player
• May 27 — Branko Oblak
  Branko Oblak
  
  Branko Oblak is a Slovenian football coach and former international player....
  , Slovenian football (soccer) player and coach
• May 29 — Peter Lown
  Peter Lown
  
  Peter Lown is a former field hockey player.Lown competed for Canada at the Hockey at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada. There the resident of Edmonton, Alberta finished in tenth place with the Canada national field hockey team....
  , UK-born Canadian field hockey player

June

• June 2 — Giorgio Cagnotto
  Giorgio Cagnotto
  
  Franco Giorgio Cagnotto is a former diving from Italy, who competed in five consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1964....
  , Italian diver
• June 2 — Sonia Robertson
  Sonia Robertson
  
  Sonia Robertson is a former field hockey player from Zimbabwe, who was a member of the national team that won the golden medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow....
   and Sandra Chick
  Sandra Chick
  
  Alexandra Chick is a former field hockey player from Zimbabwe, who was a member of the national team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow....
  , Zimbabwean field hockey players and twin sisters
• June 6 — Marion Coakes, English equestrian show jumper
• June 19 — James Mason
  James Mason (field hockey)
  
  James Robert Mason is a retired field hockey player from Australia, who won the silver medal with the Men's National Team at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City....
  , Australian field hockey player
• June 25 — John Powell
  John Powell (athlete)
  
  John Gates Powell is a former United States Athletics . Powell set the 1975 world record in the discus throw, his personal best, set later, is 72.08 m in 1984....
  , American discus thrower
• June 27 — Pete Maravich
  Pete Maravich
  
  Peter Press Maravich , nicknamed "Pistol Pete", was an American basketball player. A native Pennsylvanian, Maravich starred in college at Louisiana State University and for three National Basketball Association teams....
  , American basketball player (d. 1988)

July

• July 8 — Heinfried Engel
  Heinfried Engel
  
  Heinfried Engel is a retired pole vaulter from Germany, who represented West Germany during his career. A member of the Union Sportclub Mainz he set his personal best on 1969-02-15 at a meet in Barcelona....
  , German pole vaulter
• July 17 — Svetlana Koroleva-Babich
  Svetlana Koroleva-Babich
  
  Svetlana Vladimirovna Koroleva-Babich is a retired female javelin thrower who represend the Soviet Union twice at the Summer Olympics: 1972 and 1976....
  , Soviet javelin thrower
• July 22 — Amado Morales
  Amado Morales
  
  Amado Rigoberto Morales is a retired javelin thrower from Puerto Rico, who competed for his native country during the 1970s and the 1980s....
  , Puerto Rican javelin thrower
• July 24 — Jacques Fouroux
  Jacques Fouroux
  
  Jacques Fouroux was a France rugby union player and coach. He captained France national rugby union team when they won the Grand Slam in 1977, and was the manager when the side repeated the feat in 1981 and 1987....
  , French rugby union player (d. 2005)
• July 30 — James Slatton
  James Slatton
  
  James Walter Slatton is a retired water polo player from the United States. He won the bronze medal with the United States men's national water polo team at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany....
  , American water polo player

August

• August 26 — Jan Krekels
  Jan Krekels
  
  Jan Jozef Alfons Franciscus Krekels is a retired cyclist from the Netherlands. He became Olympic Games champion in the 100km team time trial in 1968 with Joop Zoetemelk, Ren? Pijnen and Fedor den Hertog....
  , Dutch cyclist
• August 28 — Boris Zaychuk, Soviet hammer thrower

September

• September 7 — Wim Hermsen
  Wim Hermsen
  
  Willem Hermsen is a former water polo player from The Netherlands, who finished in seventh position with the Dutch Men's Water Polo Team at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich....
  , Dutch water polo player
• September 8 — Amos Biwott
  Amos Biwott
  
  Amos Biwott is a former Kenyan athletics , winner of the 3000 m steeplechase at the 1968 Summer Olympics.Born in Nandi, Kenya, Amos Biwott was the first of long line of Kenyan runners who had starred the 3000 m steeplechase ever since Biwott's surprising win at the Mexico City Olympic Games and pioneered the black Africa's dominance at the...
  , Kenyan athlete
• September 20 — Victor Zilberman
  Victor Zilberman
  
  Victor Zilberman is a retired boxing from Romania.He represented his native country at the Boxing at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada....
  , Romanian boxer
• September 25 — Ali Parvin
  Ali Parvin
  
  Ali Parvin is an Iranian football coach and former player. He is one of the most famous football ever to play in Iran, and regarded as one of the best from Iran....
  , Iranian football (soccer) player
• September 27 — Jan Borren
  Jan Borren
  
  Jan Joachim Borren is a former field hockey player from New Zealand, who was a member of the national teams competing at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich....
  , Dutch-born New Zealand field hockey player and coach

October

• October 3 — Carroll Morgan
  Carroll Morgan
  
  Carroll Morgan is a former heavyweight Boxing from Canada, who represented his native country at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany....
  , Canadian heavyweight boxer
• October 6 — Klaus Dibiasi
  Klaus Dibiasi
  
  Klaus Dibiasi is a former diving from Italy, who competed in four consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1964. He dominated the platform event from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s, winning a total number of three Olympic gold medals....
  , Italian diver
• October 8 — Emiel Puttemans
  Emiel Puttemans
  
  Emiel Puttemans was a middle- and long-distance runner who set world records for 3000 m. in 1972, for 2 miles in 1971, and for 5000 m. in 1972....
  , Belgian middle- and long-distance runner
• October 9 — Isaac Ikhouria
  Isaac Ikhouria
  
  Isaac Ikhouria is a retired boxing from Nigeria, who is best known for winning a bronze medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany....
  , Nigerian boxer
• October 11 — Alan Pascoe
  Alan Pascoe
  
  Alan Peter Pascoe, MBE was a United Kingdom Athletics who gained success in Hurdling. After his athletics career, he has been successful in events Promotion and consulting....
  , British athlete
• October 23 — Kazimierz Deyna
  Kazimierz Deyna
  
  Kazimierz Deyna was a Poland football player, one of the best marksmen in the history of world football. He was a playmaker or deep lying forward famed for his finishing and vision....
  , Polish football (soccer) player (d. 1989)

November

• November 1 — Rolando Garbey
  Rolando Garbey
  
  Rolando Garbey Garbey is a Cuban boxing who competed in the Light Middleweight category. He won an Olympic silver medal in 1968 and a bronze medal in 1976....
  , Cuban boxer
• November 5 — Oleg Antropov, Soviet volleyball player
• November 17 — Keith Remfry
  Keith Remfry
  
  Keith Remfry is a former judoka from the United Kingdom, who won the silver medal in the Open Class at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. He lost to Japan's Haruki Uemura in the final of the Olympic tournament in Canada....
  , British judoka

December

• December 5 — Ain Roost
  Ain Roost
  
  Ain Roost is a retired male discus thrower, who represented Canada twice at the Summer Olympics. A resident of San Diego, California he claimed the bronze medal in the men's discus throw event at the 1971 Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia....
  , Swedish-Canadian discus thrower
• December 9 — Renzo Cramerotti
  Renzo Cramerotti
  
  Renzo Cramerotti is a retired male javelin thrower from Italy, who finished in 20th place at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. He set his personal best in 1971....
  , Italian javelin thrower
• December 16 — Vincent Matthews
  Vincent Matthews
  
  Vincent Edward Matthews is an African American United States former Athletics , winner of two gold medals at the 1968 Summer Olympics and 1972 Summer Olympics....
  , American track and field athlete
• December 22 — Mitsuo Tsukahara
  Mitsuo Tsukahara
  
  Mitsuo Tsukahara is a Japanese artistic gymnast and Olympic Gold Medalist. Tsukahara is well known for having invented a Vault technique called the "Tsukahara "....
  , Japanese gymnast
• December 27 — Willy Polleunis
  Willy Polleunis
  
  Willy Polleunis is a retired long-distance Running from Belgium, who competed for his native country at two consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany....
  , Belgian long-distance runner

Deaths

• January 20 — Josh Gibson
  Josh Gibson
  
  Joshua Gibson was an United States catcher in baseball's Negro League baseball. He played for the Homestead Grays from 1930 to 1931, moved to the Pittsburgh Crawfords from 1932 to 1936, and returned to the Grays from 1937 to 1939 and 1942 to 1946....
   (35), famed Negro League slugger
• January 21 — Hermann Müller
  Hermann Müller (athlete)
  
  Hermann M?ller was a Germany athlete, who won the silver medal in the 3000 metre walk at the 1906 Summer Olympics held in Athens, Greece....
  , German race walker (b. 1885)
• February 6 — Theodor Nauman
  Theodor Nauman
  
  Frans Johan Theodor Nauman was a Sweden water polo player who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics and in the 1924 Summer Olympics.In 1920 he was part of the Swedish team, which was able to win the bronze medal....
   (61), Swedish water polo player (b. 1885)