1958 in sports

See also: 1957 in sports, other events of 1958, 1959 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Artistic Gymnastics

• World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
  • Men's all-around champion: Boris Shakhlin, USSR
  • Women's all-around champion: Larissa Latynina, USSR
  • Team competition champions: men's - USSR; women's - USSR

Auto Racing

• NASCAR Championship - Lee Petty
• Indianapolis 500 - Jimmy Bryan
• USAC Racing - Tony Bettenhausen won the season championship
• Formula One Championship - Mike Hawthorn of Great Britain
• February 23 - Cuban rebels kidnap 5-time F1 champion Juan Manuel Fangio.
• 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Olivier Gendebien / Phil Hill won, driving a Ferrari 250TR
• Rally racing - the team of Guy Monraisse / Jacques Feret won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Renault

Baseball

• January 29: The Brooklyn Dodgers catcher Roy Campanella suffers a broken neck in an early morning auto accident on Long Island. His spinal column is nearly severed and his legs are permanently paralyzed.

• January 30: Commissioner Ford Frick announces that players and coaches, rather than the fans, will vote for the All-Star teams.

• April 15: San Francisco Giants pitcher Rubén Gómez won baseball's first regular season game on the West Coast. He started the first game in San Francisco history, beating Don Drysdale and the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers in an 8-0 shutout at Seals Stadium. The two teams moved from New York after the 1957 season.

• World Series: New York Yankees win 4 games to 3 over the Milwaukee Braves. The Series MVP is pitcher Bob Turley of New York.

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Kentucky wins 84-72 over Seattle

• NBA Finals:
  • St. Louis Hawks win 4 games to 2 over the Boston Celtics

• World Basketball Championships (Men) - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • Gold: United States of America
  • Silver: Brazil
  • Bronze: Philippines

Boxing

• December 10 - Light-heavyweight champion Archie Moore is knocked down three times in the first round and once more in the fifth round by Yvon Durelle but Moore held on to come back to knock out Durelle in the 11th round.

Cycling

• Tour de France - Charly Gaul of Luxembourg

Figure skating

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

Football (American)

• NFL Championship: December 28 the Baltimore Colts won 23-17 over the New York Giants in overtime. The game is later called the "Greatest game ever played".
• College football: Louisiana State University wins their first recognized national championship in the poll era. See 1958 LSU Tigers football team.

Football (Australian rules football)

• Victorian Football League
  • Collingwood wins the 62nd VFL Premiership (Collingwood 12.10 (82) d Melbourne 9.10 (64))
  • Brownlow Medal not awarded to Neil Roberts (St Kilda)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Winnipeg Blue Bombers win 35-28 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Football (soccer)

FIFA World Cup

• 1958 World Cup held in Sweden. Brazil beat Sweden 5-2 in the final.

Europe

• European Cup - Real Madrid beat AC Milan 3-2.
• Inter-Cities Fairs Cup - FC Barcelona beat London XI 8-2 on aggregate.

England

• February 6, Munich air disaster: 7 Manchester United players are killed, Duncan Edwards later died of his injuries.
• First Division - Wolverhampton Wanderers win the 1957-58 title.
• FA Cup - Bolton Wanderers beat Manchester United 2-0.

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. April 6 - The Masters golf tournament - Arnold Palmer
  2. June - US Open - Tommy Bolt
  3. July - British Open - Bobby Locke
  4. August - PGA Championship - Dow Finsterwald

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Arnold Palmer - $42,608

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Mickey Wright
• LPGA Championship - Mickey Wright
• Beverly Hanson: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $12,629.

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Baystone
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Caledon Beau
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Ballymoss
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Sindon

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Pall Mall
  2. Epsom Derby - Hard Ridden
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Alcide

• Tim Tam, who had won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, fractured a sesamoid bone and lost his chance for the Triple Crown when he hobbled across the finish line in second place at the Belmont Stakes.
• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Tim Tam
  2. Preakness Stakes - Tim Tam
  3. Belmont Stakes - Cavan

Harness Racing

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Raider Frost
  2. Little Brown Jug - Shadow Wave
  3. Messenger Stakes - O'Brien Hanover

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Emily's Pride
  2. Yonkers Trot - Spunky Hanover
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Emily's Pride

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Free Hall

Ice Hockey

• January 18 - Willie O'Ree makes his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins. He is the first African-Canadian to play in the National Hockey League.

• 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: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings

• Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens win 4-2 over the Boston Bruins

• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Whitby Dunlops from Canada defeat the Soviet Union

• NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship - University of Denver Pioneers defeat University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux 6-2 in Minneapolis, MN

Skiing

• FIS World Championships - Women:
  • Downhill: Lucille Wheeler (Canada)
  • Giant Slalom: Lucille Wheeler (Canada)
  • Slalom: Inge Bjoernbakken (Norway)
  • Combined: Frieda Dänzer (Switzerland)

• FIS World Championships - Men:
  • Downhill: Toni Sailer (Austria)
  • Giant Slalom: Toni Sailer (Austria)
  • Slalom: Josl Rieder (Austria)
  • Combined: Toni Sailer (Austria)

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Ashley Cooper
  2. French Open - Mervyn Rose
  3. Wimbledon championships - Ashley Cooper
  4. US Open - Ashley Cooper

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Angela Mortimer
  2. French Open - Zsuzsi Kormoczy
  3. Wimbledon championships - Althea Gibson
  4. US Open - Althea Gibson

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

Yacht racing

• The New York Yacht Club retains the America's Cup as Columbia defeats British challenger Sceptre, of the Royal Yacht Squadron, 4 races to 0; it is the first Cup series held in the era of the 12-metre yacht

General sporting events

• Asian Games held in Tokyo, Japan
• British Empire & Commonwealth Games held in Cardiff, United Kingdom
• The international petanque federation is founded in Marseille

Births

January

• January 1 — Türgüt Aykaç, Turkish boxer
• January 7 — Massimo Biason, Italian rally driver
• January 10 — Gary Cook, UK athlete
• January 10 — Anatoly Pisarenko, Soviet weightlifter
• January 11 — Sylvia Brunner, Swiss ice speed skater
• January 13 — Ricardo Acuña, Chilean tennis player
• January 18 — Brenda Phillips, Zimbabwean field hockey player
• January 22 — Jorge Ruiz, Argentine field hockey player and coach
• January 24 — Frank Ullrich, German biathlete

February

• February 2 — Sandy Lyle, Scottish golf player
• February 11 — Regina Maršíková, Czechoslovakian tennis player.
• February 12 — George Carnoutsos, New Zealand field hockey player
• February 14 — Heinz Steinberger, Austrian ice speed skater
• February 16 — Oscar Schmidt, Brazilian basketball player
• February 17 — Sergei Baltacha, Ukrainian football (soccer) player
• February 20 — Det de Beus, Dutch field hockey goalkeeper
• February 21 — Vladimir Kotov, Belarusian long-distance runner
• February 25 — Peter Drost, Dutch freestyle swimmer
• February 28 — Dean Crawford, Canadian rower

March

• March 2 — Kevin Curren, South African tennis player
• March 2 — Ian Woosnam, Welsh golf player
• March 4 — Wouly de Bie, Dutch water polo player
• March 8 — Andreas Maurer, German tennis player
• March 17 — José Manuel Abascal, Spanish athlete
• March 20 — Detlef Kästner, East German boxer
• March 21 — Marlies Göhr, German athlete
• March 24 — Fernando Luna, Spanish tennis player
• March 25 — Harriet Metcalf, American rower
• March 26 — Elio de Angelis, Italian racecar driver
• March 28 — Bart Conner, American gymnast

April

• April 1 — Tom van 't Hek, Dutch field hockey player and coach
• April 3 — Annemarie Sanders, Dutch equestrian
• April 4 — Greg Foster, US athlete
• April 5 — Johan Kriek, South Africa-born tennis player from the United States
• April 11 — Lyudmila Kondratyeva, Russian athlete
• April 13 — Irene Hendriks, Dutch field hockey player
• April 28 — Husmukh Bhikha, New Zealand field hockey player
• April 29 — Carlos Roca, Spanish field hockey player

May

• May 3 — Hansje Bunschoten, Dutch freestyle swimmer
• May 6 — Johan Aantjes, Dutch water polo player and coach
• May 9 — Graham Smith, Canadian swimmer
• May 19 — Bruce MacPherson, Canadian field hockey player

June

• June 6 — Rudi Fink, East German boxer
• June 11 — Ellen Bontje, Dutch equestrian
• June 12 — Jillian Smith, New Zealand field hockey player
• June 14 — Eric Heiden, US speed skater
• June 14 — Tony Mmoh, Nigerian tennis player
• June 15 — Wade Boggs, American baseball player
• June 16 — Pierre Berbizier, French rugby union player
• June 27 — Eric Fromm, American tennis player
• June 29 — Rosa Mota, Portuguese marathon runner

July

• July 6 — Mark Benson, cricket umpire
• July 25 — Karl-Heinz Forster, German football player
• July 28 — Terry Fox, Canadian athlete
• July 29 — Diane Moyer, US field hockey player
• July 30 — Daley Thompson, British decathlete

August

• August 4 — Mary Decker, US athlete
• August 9 — Nduka Odizor, Nigerian tennis player
• August 16 — José Luis Clerc, Argentine tennis player
• August 18 — Didier Auriol, French rally driver
• August 25 — Pierre Délèze, Swiss middle distance runner
• August 26 — Viktor Demyanenko, Soviet boxer
• August 28 — Scott Hamilton, American ice skater
• August 31 — Serge Blanco, French rugby union player

September

• September 6 — Soraya Telles, Brazilian middle distance runner
• September 14 — Alain Fabiani, French volleyball player
• September 16 — Orel Hershiser, US baseball player
• September 18 — Henk Elzerman, Dutch freestyle swimmer
• September 19 — Azumah Nelson, Ghanaian boxer
• September 21 — Jay Triano, Canadian basketball player and coach
• September 24 — Barbara Clark, Canadian freestyle swimmer
• September 27 — Neil Adams, British judoka
• September 29 — Ron Jans, Dutch football (soccer) player and coach

October

• October 4 — Francesco Damiani, Italian boxer
• October 9 — Mike Singletary, US American football player
• October 10 — Pietro Generali, Italian basketball player
• October 18 — Thomas Hearns, American boxer
• October 20 — Aletta van Manen, Dutch field hockey defender
• October 24 — Chip Hooper, American tennis player
• October 25 — Kornelia Ender, German swimmer
• October 30 — Paulino Monsalve, Spanish field hockey player
• October 31 — Jeannie Longo, French cyclist

November

• November 20 — Peter Miskimmin, New Zealand field hockey player
• November 24 — Rick Davis, American soccer midfielder
• November 26 — Mikhail Linge, Soviet athlete (d. 1994)
• November 28 — Kriss Akabusi, British athlete

December

• December 4 — Renata Kokowska, Polish long-distance runner
• December 9 — Jean-Noël Fagot, French ice speed skater
• December 15 — Eddy Annys, Belgian high jumper
• December 15 — Rabah Madjer, Algerian football player
• December 16 — Marti ten Kate, Dutch long-distance runner
• December 24 — Sophie von Weiler, Dutch field hockey forward
• December 25 — Rickey Henderson, US baseball player
• December 27 — Morten Stig Christensen, Danish handball player

Deaths

• February 6 – Geoff Bent (25), English football (soccer) player
• February 6 – Roger Byrne (28), English football (soccer) player
• February 6 – Eddie Colman (21), English football (soccer) player
• February 6 – Mark Jones (24), English football (soccer) player
• February 6 – David Pegg (22), Irish football (soccer) player
• February 6 – Tommy Taylor (26), English football (soccer) player
• February 6 – Liam Whelan (22), Irish football (soccer) player
• February 21 – Duncan Edwards (21), English football (soccer) player
• September 13 – Russell Mockridge (30), Australian racing cyclist (b. 1928)

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