1936 in sports

Events

May 12: Jockey Ralph Neves was involved in a racing accident at Bay Meadows Racetrack in San Mateo, California and mistakenly pronounced dead. A while later, he woke up in the morgue and promptly returned to the racetrack but was not allowed to compete in any of the remaining races because of his 'death.'

Plans are announced for a Baseball Hall of Fame to be established in 1939, the game's supposed centennial, in Cooperstown, New York. In the first elections to select 15 initial inductees (5 from the 19th century and 10 from the 20th), Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson are selected from the 20th century; the election for 19th century players is plagued by problems and results in no selections. See: Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 1936
World Series: New York Yankees defeat the New York Giants, 4-2.

Olympic Games (Men's Competition) in Berlin, London
- Gold Medal: India
- Silver Medal: Germany
- Bronze Medal: The Netherlands

Victorian Football League
- Collingwood wins the 40th VFL Premiership (Collingwood 11.23 (89) d South Melbourne 10.18 (78))
- Brownlow Medal awarded to Dinny Ryan (Fitzroy)

The Detroit RedWings won the championship in the National Hockey League. Combine this with the Detroit Tigers World Series win and the Detroit Lions NFL Championship in 1934 and in one 12 month period Detroit played home to the Championship teams in the MLB, NFL, and NHL. This feat has yet to be duplicated by any other city.

First Speed Skating World Championships for Women held in Stockholm
- Gold Medal: Kit Klein (United States)
- Silver Medal: Verné Lesche (Finland)
- Bronze Medal: Synnøve Lie (Norway)

1936 Summer Olympics takes place in Berlin, Germany
- Germany wins the most medals (89), and the most gold medals (33).
- Jesse Owens wins four gold medals.
- The first torch relay takes place from Olympia, Greece.

1936 Winter Olympics takes place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
- Norway wins the most medals (15), and the most gold medals (7).