1959 in sports

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

See also: 1958 in sports, other events of 1959, 1960 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

---

Contents 1 Athletics 1.1 Marathon 2 Auto racing 3 Baseball 4 Basketball 5 Boxing 6 Figure skating 7 Football (American) 8 Football (Canadian) 9 Football (Soccer) 10 Golf 11 Thoroughbred horse racing 12 Ice hockey 13 Tennis 14 General sporting events 15 Births 15.1 January 15.2 February 15.3 March 15.4 April 15.5 May 15.6 June 15.7 July 15.8 August 15.9 September 15.10 October 15.11 November 15.12 December 16 Deaths

[edit] Athletics

[edit] Marathon

• August 15 — Enschede Marathon, Netherlands
  • Men's Winner: Pavel Kantorek (CZE) 2:26:48

• September 2 — Pan American Games Marathon, Chicago, United States
  • Men's Winner: John Kelly (USA) 2:27:54

• December 8 — Fukuoka Marathon, Japan
  • Men's Winner: Kurao Hiroshima (JPN) 2:29:34

[edit] Auto racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Lee Petty won the inaugural Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship — Lee Petty
• Indianapolis 500 — Rodger Ward
• USAC Racing — Rodger Ward
• Formula One Champion — Jack Brabham of Australia
• 24 hours of Le Mans: Carroll Shelby / Roy Salvadori won driving an Aston Martin DBR1
• Rally racing — Paul Coltelloni / P Alexandre won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Citroën ID
• Drag racing:
  • Chris the "Greek" Karamesines won the AHRA "Top Fuel"
  • Rodney Singer won Top Eliminator at the NHRA Nationals

[edit] Baseball

• March 3 — The San Francisco Giants officially name their new stadium Candlestick Park.
• World Series: Los Angeles Dodgers win 4 games to 2 over the Chicago White Sox. The Series MVP is Larry Sherry, Los Angeles
• The Winnipeg Goldeyes win the Northern League championship.

[edit] Basketball

• FIBA World Championship
  • Brazil World Champion
• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • California wins 71-70 over West Virginia
• NBA Finals:
  • Boston Celtics win 4 games to 0 over the Minneapolis Lakers

[edit] Boxing

• June 26 — in New York City, Ingemar Johansson scored a 3rd round TKO over Floyd Patterson to win the World Heavyweight Championship

[edit] Figure skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: David Jenkins, United States
  • Ladies' champion: Carol Heiss, United States
  • Pair skating champion: Barbara Wagner & Robert Paul, Canada
  • Ice dancing champion: Doreen Denny & Courtney Jones, Great Britain

[edit] Football (American)

• NFL Championship: Baltimore Colts won 31-16 over the New York Giants

[edit] Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Winnipeg Blue Bombers win 21-7 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats

[edit] Football (Soccer)

• England — FA Cup: Nottingham Forest won 2-1 over Luton Town
• May 28 - Billy Wright makes his 70th consecutive England appearance, a record that still stands

[edit] Golf

Men's golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May — The Masters golf tournament — Art Wall, Jr.
  2. June — US Open — Billy Casper
  3. July — British Open — Gary Player
  4. August — PGA Championship — Bob Rosburg

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Art Wall, Jr. — $53,168
• Ryder Cup: United States 8½ to 3½ over Britain in world team golf

Women's golf

• US Women's Open — Mickey Wright
• LPGA Championship — Betsy Rawls
• Betsy Rawls: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $26,774.

[edit] Thoroughbred horse racing

• Australia — Melbourne Cup — Macdougal
• Canada — Queen's Plate — New Providence
• France — Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe — Saint Crespin
• Ireland — Irish Derby Stakes — Fidalgo

• English Triple Crown races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes — Taboun
  2. Epsom Derby — Parthia
  3. St. Leger Stakes — Cantelo

• United States Triple Crown races:
  1. Kentucky Derby — Tomy Lee
  2. Preakness Stakes — Royal Orbit
  3. Belmont Stakes — Sword Dancer

[edit] Ice hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Dickie Moore, Montreal Canadiens
• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Andy Bathgate, New York Rangers
• Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 1 over the Toronto Maple Leafs
• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Belleville McFarlands from Canada
• NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship - University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux defeat Michigan State University Spartans 4-3 in overtime in Troy, NY
• On November 1, Montreal Canadiens goaltender, Jacques Plante was injured when struck in the face by a flying puck. He offers to return to play on the condition that he wears his goalie mask. His example soons leads to the mask becoming standard equipment for goalies and a symbol of the game itself.

[edit] Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open — Alex Olmedo
  2. French Open — Nicola Pietrangeli
  3. Wimbledon championships — Alex Olmedo
  4. US Open — Neale Fraser

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open — Mary Carter-Reitano
  2. French Open — Christine Truman
  3. Wimbledon championships — Maria Bueno
  4. US Open — Maria Bueno

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

[edit] General sporting events

• Third Pan American Games held in Chicago, United States
• Third Mediterranean Games held in Beirut, Lebanon
• First Summer Universiade held in Turin, Italy

[edit] Births

[edit] January

• January 2 — Bettina Blumenberg, German field hockey player
• January 4 — Kim Gordon, British field hockey player
• January 10 — Chandra Cheeseborough, American athlete
• January 26 — Mircea Fulger, Romanian boxer
• January 26 — Marianna Panfil, Polish long-distance runner
• January 28 — Patrizio Oliva, Italian boxer
• January 31 — Santos Laciar, Argentinian boxer
• January 31 — Arto Härkönen, Finnish javelin thrower

[edit] February

• February 4 — Lawrence Taylor, American football player
• February 8 — Kevin Robertson, American water polo player
• February 9 — Joachim Kunz, German weightlifter
• February 11 — David López-Zubero, Spanish swimmer
• February 11 — Corinne Shigemoto, US judo coach
• February 12 — Andrew Weaver, US road bicycle racer
• February 16 — John McEnroe, US tennis player
• February 17 — Rowdy Gaines, American swimmer

[edit] March

• March 12 — Robyn Blackman, New Zealand field hockey player
• March 15 — Eliot Teltscher, American tennis player
• March 17 — Danny Ainge, American basketball player, coach and baseball player
• March 18 — Yvonne Buter, Dutch field hockey goalkeeper
• March 21 — Heinz Günthardt, Swiss tennis player
• March 21 — Eric Pierik, Dutch field hockey player
• March 27 — Aleksandr Goncharov, Soviet field hockey player

[edit] April

• April 2 — Gelindo Bordin, Italian athlete
• April 4 — Shamil Sabirov, Soviet boxer
• April 9 — Grant McLeod, New Zealand field hockey player
• April 13 — Stephen Martin, British field hockey player
• April 23 — Marcella Place, American field hockey player

[edit] May

• May 1 — Jouko Vesterlund, Finnish ice speed skater
• May 3 — Carlos De Leon, Puerto Rican boxer
• May 8 — Aleksandr Miasnikov, Soviet field hockey player
• May 21 — Orlando Maldonado, Puerto Rican boxer
• May 25 — Greet Hellemans, Dutch rower

[edit] June

• June 3 — Becky Smith, Canadian medley and butterfly swimmer
• June 7 — Randy Ragan, Canadian football (soccer) player
• June 9 — Elly van Hulst, Dutch middle distance runner
• June 12 — Steve Bauer, Canadian cyclist
• June 12 — Desai Williams, St. Kitts and Nevis-born Canadian athlete
• June 13 — Aleksandr Koshkyn, Soviet boxer
• June 28 — Ed van Es, Dutch water polo player

[edit] July

• July 4 — Jan Brittin, English women's cricketer
• July 6 — Richard Dacoury, French basketball player
• July 7 — Oleg Zagorodnev, Soviet field hockey player
• July 9 — Juan Coghen, Spanish field hockey player
• July 10 — Davis Phinney, American road bicycle racer
• July 18 — Mel Purcell, American tennis player
• July 26 — Gary Honey, Australian long jumper
• July 26 — Anne Jardin, Canadian freestyle swimmer
• July 28 — Cheryl Gibson, Canadian swimmer

[edit] August

• August 3 — Janusz Zarenkiewicz, Polish heavyweight boxer
• August 4 — Mark Kerry, Australian backstroke swimmer
• August 5 — Vickey Dixon, British field hockey international
• August 8 — Ronald Weigel, German track and field athlete
• August 13 — Thomas Ravelli, Swedish football (soccer) goalkeeper
• August 14 — Magic Johnson, US basketball player
• August 15 — Han Kulker, Dutch middle distance runner
• August 21 — Jim McMahon, American football player
• August 23 — George Kalovelonis, Greek tennis player
• August 28 — Sjaak Troost, Dutch football (soccer) defender

[edit] September

• September 12 — Sos Airapetian, Armenian field hockey player
• September 13 — Kathy Johnson, American artistic gymnast
• September 15 — Catherine Suire, French tennis player
• September 17 — José Antonio Hernando, Spanish boxer
• September 30 — Elsemiek Hillen, Dutch field hockey forward
• September 30 — Werner Jäger, Austrian ice speed skater

[edit] October

• October 4 — Maarten van Grimbergen, Dutch field hockey player
• October 10 — Kevin Barry, New Zealand boxer
• October 10 — Serik Konakbayev, Soviet boxer
• October 10 — Aleksandr Sychyov, Soviet field hockey player
• October 11 — Michiel Schapers, Dutch tennis player and coach
• October 20 — Sandra Le Poole, Dutch field hockey forward

[edit] November

• November 12 — Regina Buggy, American field hockey player
• November 14 — Dave Steen, Canadian decathlon athlete
• November 15 — Dhawee Umponmaha, Thai boxer
• November 21 — Jan Martin, New Zealand field hockey player
• November 24 — Juan Laporte, Puerto Rican boxer
• November 24 — Sandra Mackie, New Zealand field hockey player
• November 30 — Sylvia Hanika, German tennis player

[edit] December

• December 1 — Viktor Miroshnichenko, Soviet boxer
• December 4 — Paul McGrath, Irish football (soccer) defender
• December 4 — Christa Rothenburger, East German speed skater
• December 16 — Colleen Jones, Canadian female curler
• December 24 — Harrie van Heumen, Dutch ice hockey forward
• December 29 — Julio Ramón Gómez, Spanish boxer

[edit] Deaths

• War Admiral — thoroughbred race horse
• January 22 — Michael Hawthorn, F1 race driver
• February 24 — Stanley Shoveller, British field hockey player (b. 1881)
• September 28 — Rudolf Caracciola, F1 race driver