See also: 1948 in sports, other events of 1949, 1950 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Auto racing

• The first 24 hours of Le Mans is held since the beginning of World War II. Luigi Chinetti and Lord Seldson win the race in a Ferrari 166M.

Baseball

• January 28: The New York Giants sign their first black players: Negro Leaguers outfielder Monte Irvin and pitcher Ford Smith. Both men are assigned to Jersey City. Irvin will star for the Giants, but Smith will not reach the major leagues.
• May 5: Hall of Fame election: After a runoff election was necessary, Charlie Gehringer is selected for induction; on May 9, the Old-Timers Committee elects Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown and Kid Nichols as its first selections in 3 years.
• June 5: MLB Commissioner Happy Chandler lifts the ban on all players who jumped to the Mexican League, starting in 1946.
• June 15: Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Eddie Waitkus is shot in Chicago by deranged fan Ruth Ann Steinhagen.

Basketball

• The sixth European basketball championship, Eurobasket 1949, is won by Egypt.
• The fourteenth South American Basketball Championship in Asunción is won by Uruguay.

Football (American Football)

• Cleveland Browns 21-7 San Francisco 49ers for the All-America Football Conference championship. After the 1949 season, the Browns, 49ers and original Baltimore Colts would joined the NFL for the 1950 season.

• Philadelphia Eagles 14-0 Los Angeles Rams for the NFL championship.

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Essendon wins the 53rd VFL Premiership (Essendon 18.17 (125) d Carlton 6.16 (52))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Ron Clegg (South Melbourne) and Col Austen (Hawthorn)

Football (soccer)

England

• First Division - Portsmouth win the 1948-49 title.
• FA Cup: Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Leicester City 3–1.

Italy

• A plane carrying the Torino team crashes into a mountain on May 4, killing everyone on board. Of the entire squad, only one player (who didn't fly, due to injury) survived, as well as potential signing Ladislao Kubala, who was due to fly but did not, due to his son's ill health.

Football (Rugby)

• New Zealand - September 3, blackest day in All Blacks history when they lost two test matches, 6-11 to the Wallabies in Wellington, and 3-9 to the Springboks in South Africa.

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Fred Davis beats Walter Donaldson 80-65.

General sporting events

• The decades-long "color barrier" in athletics for the Big Seven Conference is broken by Harold Robinson, playing football for Kansas State. Robinson would go on to be named All-Conference in 1950.

Births

January

• January 6 — Michael Boit, Kenyan track and field athlete
• January 17 — Dick Nanninga, Dutch football player
• January 23 — Tom Forsyth, Scottish football player
• January 23 — Per Røntved, Danish football player
• January 31 — Ruben Pagnanini, Argentine football player

February

• February 1 — Franco Causio, Italian football player
• February 3 — Hennie Kuiper, Dutch cyclist
• February 5 — Manuel Orantes, Spanish tennis player
• February 7 — Ricardo Cabot, Spanish field hockey player
• February 21 — Ronnie Hellström, Swedish football goalkeeper

March

• March 2 — JPR Williams, Welsh rugby union player
• March 6 — Martin Buchan, Scottish football player
• March 8 — Teófilo Cubillas, Peruvian football player
• March 8 — Karel Lismont, Belgian marathon runner
• March 24 — Ruud Krol, Dutch football player and coach
• March 28 — Ronnie Ray Smith, American track and field athlete

April

• April 15 — Trevor Smith, Australian field hockey player
• April 16 — Sandy Hawley, Canadian jockey
• April 17 — Heini Hemmi, Swiss alpine skier
• April 22 — Spencer Haywood, American basketball player
• April 28 — Alan Chesney, New Zealand field hockey player
• April 29 — Eddie Hart, American track and field athlete

May

• May 1 — Margo Miller, American fencer
• May 7 — Michael Peter, German field hockey player
• May 12 — Tim Crooks, British rower
• May 16 — Paul Ackerley, New Zealand field hockey player and coach
• May 29 — Wilhelm Kreuz, Austrian football player
• May 29 — Leonid Pavlovski, Soviet field hockey player

June

• June 1 — Mike Boit, Kenyan middle distance runner
• June 5 — Arthur Borren, Dutch-born field hockey from New Zealand
• June 7 — Lou Macari, Scottish football player
• June 8 — Hildegard Falck, German 800m runner
• June 20 — Paul Shaw, Canadian trap shooter
• June 29 — Lisette Sevens, Dutch field hockey defender

July

• July 11 — Emerson Leao, Brazilian football goalkeeper
• July 13 — Helena Fibingerova, Czech shot putter
• July 16 — Robert Proctor, Australian field hockey player
• July 18 — Jennifer McDonald, New Zealand field hockey player
• July 19 — Marcello Fiasconaro, Italian athlete
• July 21 — Ludmila Smirnova, Soviet figure skater
• July 22 — Lasse Viren, Finnish track and field athlete

August

• August 22 — Diana Nyad, American swimmer
• August 26 — John Baldwin, American light middleweight boxer
• August 28 — Roy Andersson, Swedish football player
• August 28 — Conny Torstensson, Swedish football player

September

• September 9 — John Curry, British figure skater (d. 1994)
• September 12 — Irina Rodnina, Russian figure skater
• September 16 — William Mahony, Canadian breaststroke swimmer
• September 25 — Jeff Borowiak, American tennis player
• September 27 — Mike Schmidt, Baseball Hall of Famer

October

• October 20 — Valery Borzov, Soviet track and field athlete
• October 20 — Wayne Collett, American 400m runner
• October 21 — Laszlo Nagy, Hungarian football player
• October 24 — Betulio Gonzalez, Venezuelan boxer
• October 28 — Bruce Jenner, American decathalete

November

• November 3— Roswitha Krause, Soviet swimmer
• November 6— Malcolm Poole, Australian field hockey player
• November 17 — Thomas Lionel Hill, American hurdler
• November 17 — Michael Wenden, Australian swimmer
• November 20 — Juha Mieto, Finnish skier
• November 23 — Olle Nordin, Swedish football player

December

• December 3 — John Akii-Bua, Ugandan hurdler (d. 1997)
• December 12— Ricardo Luis Carreras, American bantamweight boxer
• December 14 — Nasser Hejazi, Iranian football goalkeeper
• December 19 — Claudia Kolb, American breast stroke swimmer
• December 21 — Daniel Killer, Argentine football player
• December 30 — Julian Austin, Canadian field hockey player
• December 31 — Bruce Davidson, American equestrian

Deaths

• January 10 — Momcsilló Tapavicza (76), Hungarian tennis player, weightlifter and wrestler (b. 1872)
• March 9 — Charles Bennett (78), British athlete (b. 1870)
• June 25 — Buck Freeman (78), American baseball player (b. 1871)
• December 28 — Jack Lovelock (39), New Zealand athlete (b. 1905)
• December 31 — Nándor Dáni (78), Hungarian athlete (b. 1871)

1949 | 1949 in sports

1949 en sport | 1949年のスポーツ | Sportåret 1949