See also: 1952 in sports, other events of 1953, 1954 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Auto Racing

• NASCAR Championship - Herb Thomas
• AAA Racing:
  • Bill Vukovich won the Indianapolis 500
  • Sam Hanks won the season driving championship
• Formula One Championship - Alberto Ascari of Italy
• 24 hours of Le Mans:
  • the team of Tony Rolt / Duncan Hamilton won, driving a Jaguar C-Type
• Rally racing:
  • the team of Maurice Gatsonides /Peter Worledge won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Ford Zephyr
• Drag racing - The NHRA held its first official race in April on a section of the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds parking lot in Pomona, California.

Baseball

• World Series: New York Yankees won 4 games to 2 over the Brooklyn Dodgers

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Indiana wins 69-68 over Kansas

• NBA Finals:
  • Minneapolis Lakers won 4 games to 1 over the New York Knicks

• The eighth European basketball championship, Eurobasket 1953, is won by the Soviet Union.
• The fifteenth South American Basketball Championship in Montevideo is won by Uruguay.

Boxing

• September 24 in New York City - Rocky Marciano retains his World Heavyweight title with a TKO over Roland La Starza in the 11th round.

• October in New York City - Bobo Olson scored a 15 round decision over Randy Turpin to win the World Middleweight Championship

Cricket

• Pakistan becomes the seventh test playing nation.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Fausto Coppi of Italy
• Tour de France - Louison Bobet of France
• World Cycling Championship: Fausto Coppi of Italy

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Hayes Alan Jenkins, United States
  • Women's champion: Tenley Albright, United States
  • Pairs champions: Jennifer Nicks & John Nicks, Great Britain

Football (American)

• NFL Championship: Detroit Lions won 17-16 over the Cleveland Browns

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Collingwood wins the 57th VFL Premiership (Collingwood 11.11 (77) d Geelong 8.17 (65))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Bill Hutchinson (Essendon)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Hamilton Tiger-Cats win 12-6 over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Football (Soccer)

• Coronation Cup (football) - Celtic beat Hibernian 2-0 at Hampden Park.

England

• First Division - Arsenal win the 1952-53 title.
• FA Cup - Blackpool beat Bolton Wanderers 4-3 in what is known as "The Matthews Final", although it is Stan Mortensen who scores a winning hat-trick for Blackpool.
• England lose 6-3 to Hungary at Wembley Stadium their first ever loss to a team from Continental Europe at home.

Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Ben Hogan
  2. June - US Open - Ben Hogan
  3. July - British Open - Ben Hogan
  4. August - PGA Championship - Walter Burkemo

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Lew Worsham - $34,002

• Ryder Cup: United States wins 6 1/2 to 5 1/2 over the British team in world golf.

Women's Golf

• The US Women's Open - Betsy Rawls

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Wodalla
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Canadiana
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - La Sorellina
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Chamier

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Nearula
  2. Epsom Derby - Pinza
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Premonition

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Dark Star
  2. Preakness Stakes - Native Dancer
  3. Belmont Stakes - Native Dancer

Harness Racing

• Little Brown Jug for pacers won by Keystoner
• Hambletonian for trotters won by Helicopter

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Captain Sandy

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings

• Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 1 over the Boston Bruins

• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Sweden defeated the heavily favoured Soviet Union
  • Canada did not participate in the World Hockey Championship, the government claiming it was not worth the expense.

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Fred Davis beats Walter Donaldson 37-34

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Ken Rosewall
  2. French Open - Ken Rosewall
  3. Wimbledon championships - Vic Seixas
  4. US Open - Tony Trabert

• Maureen Connolly became the first woman to win the Grand Slam in tennis. Women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Maureen Connolly
  2. French Open - Maureen Connolly
  3. Wimbledon championships - Maureen Connolly
  4. US Open - Maureen Connolly

• Davis Cup: Australia won 3-2 over the United States in world tennis.

General sporting events

• Pan Arab Games held in Alexandria, Egypt

Births

• January 10 — Bobby Rahal, American automobile racer
• February 9 — Vito Antuofermo, Italian actor and boxer
• February 14 — Greg Browning, Australian field hockey player
• February 14 — Hans Krankl, Austrian football (soccer) player and coach
• February 17 — Pertti Karppinen, Finnish rower
• March 1 — Jose Higueras, Spanish tennis coach and player
• March 11 — Ladislau Bölöni, Romanian football (soccer) player and manager
• March 14 — Tim McKee, American medley and backstroke swimmer
• March 15 — Randall Goff, Australian water polo player
• March 27 — Annemarie Moser-Pröll, Austrian skier
• April 13 — Valeri Belyakov, Soviet field hockey player
• April 19 — Sara Simeoni, Italian high jumper
• April 27 — Bruce Robertson, Canadian freestyle and butterfly swimmer
• May 16 — Pierre Hermans, Dutch field hockey goalkeeper
• June 23 — Filbert Bayi, Tanzanian middle-distance runner
• June 28 — Jamtsying Davaajav, Mongolian wrestler
• July 14 — Harina Kohere, New Zealand field hockey player
• July 26 — Piotr Zaev, Soviet boxer
• August 2 — Peter-Michael Kolbe, German rower
• August 4 — Alie te Riet, Dutch breaststroke swimmer
• August 6 — Reg Plummer, Canadian field hockey player
• September 12 — Ramesh Patel, New Zealand field hockey player
• September 14 — Judy Playfair, Australian breaststroke swimmer
• September 27 — Javier Cabot, Spanish field hockey player
• October 1 — Grete Waitz, Norwegian marathon runner
• October 9 — Hank Pfister, American tennis player
• October 12 — Richard McKinney, American archer
• November 3 — Jürgen Straub, East German middle distance runner
• November 5 — Hugo Corro, Argentine boxer
• November 7 — Alexander Romankov, Russian fencer
• November 20 — Terry Walsh, Australian field hockey striker and coach
• November 22 — Matija Ljubek, Croatian canoer (d. 2000)

Deaths

• March 2 — Jim Lightbody (70), American middle distance runner (b. 1882)
• March 3 — Clyde Milan, Major League Baseball player (1907-1922)
• March 3 — James J. Jeffries, world heavyweight boxing champion
• March 28 — Jim Thorpe, athlete
• April 11 — Kid Nichols, Major League Baseball pitcher (1890-1906)
• May 27 — Jesse Burkett, Major League Baseball player (1890-1905)
• June 5 — Bill Tilden, tennis player
• June 19 — Norman Ross, American swimmer (b. 1896)
• August 11 — Tazio Nuvolari, race car driver

1953 | 1953 in sports

1953 en sport | 1953年のスポーツ | Sportåret 1953