1926 in sports

Years in sports
← 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 →
1926 in sports
Air sports American football Aquatic sports Association football Athletics Badminton Baseball Basketball Canadian football Chess Climbing Combat sports Sumo Cricket 1925–26 1926 1926–27 Cycling Dance sports Darts Equestrianism Esports Field hockey Flying disc Golf Gymnastics Handball Ice hockey Ice sports Korfball Lumberjack sports Mind sports Modern pentathlon Motorsport Orienteering Paralympic sports Precision sports Shooting Racquetball Roller sports Sailing Skiing Speedway Rugby league‎ Rugby union Snooker 1925–26 1926–27 Strength sports Weightlifting Squash Table tennis Tennis Triathlon Volleyball

1926 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

American football

• NFL championship – Frankford Yellow Jackets (14–1–2)
• Rose Bowl (1925 season):
  • The Alabama Crimson Tide won 20–19 over the Washington Huskies to share the college football national championship

Association football

England

• The Football League – Huddersfield Town 57 points, Arsenal 52, Sunderland 48, Bury 47, Sheffield United 46, Aston Villa 44
• FA Cup final – Bolton Wanderers 1–0 Manchester City at Empire Stadium, Wembley, London
• Huddersfield Town is the first team to win the League championship title three times in succession.

Germany

• National Championship – SpVgg Fürth 4–1 Hertha BSC at Frankfurt

Greece

• Formation of the Hellenic Football Federation (HFF)

Athletics

Sweden

• the Second Women's World Games, Gothenburg

Australian rules football

VFL Premiership

• Melbourne wins the 30th VFL Premiership: Melbourne 17.17 (119) d Collingwood 9.8 (62) at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)

Brownlow Medal

• The annual Brownlow Medal is awarded to Ivor Warne-Smith (Melbourne)

Bandy

Sweden

• Championship final – Västerås SK 1-0 IK Sirius

Baseball

World Series

• 2–10 October — St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeats New York Yankees (AL) to win the 1926 World Series by 4 games to 3

Negro leagues

• Rube Foster, founder of the Negro National League (NNL) and owner and manager of the Chicago American Giants, suffers a nervous breakdown and has to be confined to an asylum. His protégé Dave Malarcher takes over as manager and leads the team to the NNL pennant.
• The Chicago American Giants (NNL) defeat the Bacharach Giants of Atlantic City, New Jersey (ECL), 5 games to 3, in the 1926 Colored World Series.
• Mule Suttles of the St. Louis Stars hits a Negro leagues record 27 home runs. His .498 batting average and 21 triples are also records.

Basketball

ABL Championship

• Cleveland Rosenblums over Brooklyn Arcadians (3–0)

Boxing

Events

• 23 September — Gene Tunney defeats Jack Dempsey over 10 rounds in Philadelphia to win the World Heavyweight Championship
• Tiger Flowers twice defeats Harry Greb for the World Middleweight Championship but then loses it to former World Welterweight Champion Mickey Walker who holds it until 1931

Lineal world champions^[1]

• World Heavyweight Championship – Jack Dempsey → Gene Tunney
• World Light Heavyweight Championship – Paul Berlenbach → Jack Delaney
• World Middleweight Championship – Harry Greb → Tiger Flowers → Mickey Walker
• World Welterweight Championship – Mickey Walker → Pete Latzo
• World Lightweight Championship – Rocky Kansas → Sammy Mandell
• World Featherweight Championship – Louis "Kid" Kaplan → vacant
• World Bantamweight Championship – Charley Phil Rosenberg
• World Flyweight Championship – vacant

Canadian football

Grey Cup

• 14th Grey Cup – Ottawa Senators 10–7 Toronto Varsity Blues

Cricket

Events

• 31 May — India, New Zealand and West Indies are elected as Full Members of the Imperial Cricket Conference, increasing the number of nations playing Test cricket from three to six.
• England regains The Ashes from Australia by winning the five-match Test series 1–0. After the first four Tests are drawn, England wins the final match at The Oval by 289 runs.

England

• County Championship – Lancashire
• Minor Counties Championship – Durham
• Most runs – Jack Hobbs 2949 @ 77.60 (HS 316*)
• Most wickets – Charlie Parker 213 @ 18.40 (BB 8–73)
• Wisden Cricketers of the Year – George Geary, Harold Larwood, Jack Mercer, Bert Oldfield, Bill Woodfull

Australia

• Sheffield Shield – New South Wales
• Most runs – Arthur Richardson 904 @ 50.22 (HS 227)
• Most wickets – Clarrie Grimmett 59 @ 30.40 (BB 6–76)
• Victoria score 1,107 against New South Wales at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in December 1926 - still the largest innings total in first-class cricket.^[2]

India

• Bombay Quadrangular – Hindus

New Zealand

• Plunket Shield – Wellington

South Africa

• Currie Cup – not contested

West Indies

• Inter-Colonial Tournament – Trinidad and Tobago

Cycling

Tour de France

• Lucien Buysse (Belgium) wins the 20th Tour de France^[3]

Figure skating

World Figure Skating Championships

• World Women's Champion – Herma Szabo (Austria)
• World Men's Champion – Willi Böckel (Austria)
• World Pairs Champions – Andreé Joly-Brunet and Pierre Brunet (France)

Golf

Events

• Bobby Jones becomes the first golfer to win the British and US Open titles in the same year.

Major tournaments

• British Open – Bobby Jones
• US Open – Bobby Jones
• USPGA Championship – Walter Hagen

Other tournaments

• British Amateur – Jess Sweetser
• US Amateur – George Von Elm

Horse racing

England

• Cheltenham Gold Cup – Koko
• Grand National – Jack Horner
  • 19 April – Willie Watkinson, the Grand National-winning jockey, dies three weeks after his victory in a fall at Bogside, Scotland
• 1,000 Guineas Stakes – Pillion
• 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Colorado
• The Derby – Coronach^[4]
• The Oaks – Short Story
• St. Leger Stakes – Coronach

Australia

• Melbourne Cup – Spearfelt^[5]

Canada

• King's Plate – Haplite

France

• Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe – Biribi

Ireland

• Irish Grand National – Amberwave
• Irish Derby Stakes – Embargo

USA

• Kentucky Derby – Bubbling Over
• Preakness Stakes – Display
• Belmont Stakes – Crusader

Ice hockey

Stanley Cup

• 30 March to 6 April — Montreal Maroons defeats Victoria Cougars in the 1926 Stanley Cup Finals by 3 games to 1

Events

• Allan Cup – University of Toronto defeats Port Arthur Bearcats
• Memorial Cup – Calgary Canadians defeats Queen's University
• The professional Western Hockey League folds; most players are sold for $300,000 to the National Hockey League (NHL).
• December — new expansion teams debut in the NHL: Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Cougars and New York Rangers

Lacrosse

Events

• Rosabelle Sinclair establishes the United States' first women's lacrosse team at Bryn Mawr School

Motorsport

Nordic skiing

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships

• 2nd FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1926 are held at Lahti, Finland

Rowing

The Boat Race

• 27 March — Cambridge wins the 78th Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race

Rugby league

England

• Championship – Wigan
• Challenge Cup final – Swinton 9–3 Oldham at Athletic Grounds, Rochdale
• Lancashire League Championship – Wigan
• Yorkshire League Championship – Hull Kingston Rovers
• Lancashire County Cup – Swinton 15–11 Wigan
• Yorkshire County Cup – Dewsbury 2–0 Huddersfield

Australia

• NSW Premiership – South Sydney 11–5 University (grand final)

Rugby union

Five Nations Championship

• 39th Five Nations Championship series is shared by Ireland and Scotland

Speed skating

Speed Skating World Championships

• Men's Allround Champion @ Trondheim, Norway – Ivar Ballangrud (Norway)
• Overall Ladies World Champion @ Saint John, New Brunswick – Lela Brooks (Canada)
• World Outdoor Champion – Charles Gorman (Canada)
• International Outdoor Champion in pack style – John Farrell (United States)^[6]

Tennis

Australia

• Australian Men's Singles Championship – John Hawkes (Australia) defeats James Willard (Australia) 6–1 6–3 6–1
• Australian Women's Singles Championship – Daphne Akhurst Cozens (Australia) defeats Esna Boyd Robertson (Australia) 6–1 6–3

England

• Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – Jean Borotra (France) defeats Howard Kinsey (USA) 8–6 6–1 6–3
• Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – Kitty McKane Godfree (Great Britain) defeats Lilí de Álvarez (Spain) 6–2 4–6 6–3

France

• French Men's Singles Championship – Henri Cochet (France) defeats René Lacoste (France) 6–2 6–4 6–3
• French Women's Singles Championship – Suzanne Lenglen (France) defeats Mary Browne (USA) 6–1 6–0

USA

• American Men's Singles Championship – René Lacoste (France) defeats Jean Borotra (France) 6–4 6–0 6–4
• American Women's Singles Championship – Molla Bjurstedt Mallory (Norway) defeats Elizabeth Ryan (USA) 4–6 6–4 9–7

Davis Cup

• 1926 International Lawn Tennis Challenge –  United States 4–1  France at Germantown Cricket Club (grass) Philadelphia, United States

References