1933 in sports

1933 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

Alpine skiing

FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 3rd FIS Alpine World Ski Championships are held at Innsbruck, Austria. The events are a downhill, a slalom and a combined race in both the men's and women's categories. The winners are:

• Men's Downhill – Walter Prager (Switzerland)
• Men's Slalom – Anton Seelos (Austria)
• Men's Combined – Anton Seelos (Austria)
• Women's Downhill – Inge Wersin-Lantschner (Austria)
• Women's Slalom – Inge Wersin-Lantschner (Austria)
• Women's Combined – Inge Wersin-Lantschner (Austria)

Events

• Taft Slalom, the first racing trail in North America, is cut on Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire

American football

• 17 December — Chicago Bears defeats New York Giants 23–21 at Wrigley Field in the 1933 NFL Championship Game
• Rose Bowl (1932 season):
  • The USC Trojans won 35-0 over the Pittsburgh Panthers to share the college football national championship
• College football national championship – Michigan Wolverines
• Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers all founded

Association football

England

• The Football League – Arsenal 58 points, Aston Villa 54, Sheffield Wednesday 51, West Bromwich Albion 49, Newcastle United 49, Huddersfield Town 47
• FA Cup final – Everton 3–0 Manchester City at Empire Stadium, Wembley, London

Germany

• National Championship – Fortuna Düsseldorf 3–0 F.C. Schalke 04 at Köln

Italy

• Serie A won by Juventus

France

• The inaugural season of French professional football is won by Olympique Lillois.

Australian rules football

VFL Premiership

• 30 September – South Melbourne wins the 37th VFL Premiership defeating Richmond 9.17 (71) to 4.5 (29) at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in the 1933 VFL Grand Final

Brownlow Medal

• The annual Brownlow Medal is awarded to “Chicken” Smallhorn (Fitzroy)

South Australian National Football League

• 14 October – West Torrens win their second SANFL premiership, defeating Norwood 13.10 (88) to 9.11 (65)
• Magarey Medal awarded to Keith Dunn (Sturt)

Western Australian National Football League

• 16 September – George Doig becomes the first player to score 100 goals in a WA(N)FL season, doing this in the season of his league debut. Doig would score 100 goals every season until 1941, after which World War II ended open-age football until 1945.
• 14 October – East Fremantle wins its seventeenth WANFL premiership, defeating Subiaco 10.13 (73) to 7.7 (49)
• Sandover Medal awarded to Sammy Clarke (Claremont-Cottesloe)

Bandy

Sweden

• Championship final – IFK Uppsala beats IF Göta 11-1

Baseball

World Series

• 3–7 October - New York Giants (NL) defeats Washington Senators (AL) to win the 1933 World Series by 4 games to 1

Basketball

• Northwestern University wins the Big Ten Conference Championship in men’s College Basketball.

Boxing

Events

• 29 June – Primo Carnera defeats Jack Sharkey by a sixth round knockout at Long Island City to win the World Heavyweight Championship

Lineal world champions

• World Heavyweight Championship – Jack Sharkey → Primo Carnera
• World Light Heavyweight Championship – Maxie Rosenbloom
• World Middleweight Championship – vacant
• World Welterweight Championship – Jackie Fields → Young Corbett III → Jimmy McLarnin
• World Lightweight Championship – Tony Canzoneri → Barney Ross
• World Featherweight Championship – vacant
• World Bantamweight Championship – Panama Al Brown
• World Flyweight Championship – vacant

Cricket

Events

• England, employing bodyline tactics, beat Australia 4-1 to regain The Ashes.

England

• County Championship – Yorkshire
• Minor Counties Championship – undecided
• Most runs – Wally Hammond 3323 @ 67.81 (HS 264)
• Most wickets – Tich Freeman 298 @ 15.26 (BB 8–22)
• Wisden Cricketers of the Year – Fred Bakewell, George Headley, Stan Nichols, Leslie Townsend, Cyril Walters
• The West Indies make a second tour of England, and lose the three Test series two games to nil

Australia

• Sheffield Shield – New South Wales
• Most runs – Herbert Sutcliffe 1,318 @ 73.22 (HS 194)
• Most wickets – Bill O‘Reilly 62 @ 19.95 (BB 6–36)

India

• Bombay Quadrangular – not contested

New Zealand

• Plunket Shield – Otago

South Africa

• Currie Cup – not contested

West Indies

• Inter-Colonial Tournament – not contested

Cycling

• Georges Speicher won the 1933 Tour de France
• Alfredo Binda won the 1933 Giro d'Italia (5th win)
• Georges Speicher won the men's road race at the 1933 UCI Road World Championships

Field hockey

• September 1 – foundation of Oranje Zwart, a Dutch club located in Eindhoven

Figure skating

World Figure Skating Championships

• Men’s singles – Karl Schäfer
• Ladies’ singles – Sonja Henie
• Pairs – Emília Rotter and Laszlo Szollas

Golf

Major tournaments

• British Open – Denny Shute
• U.S. Open – Johnny Goodman
• PGA Championship – Gene Sarazen

Other tournaments

• British Amateur – Michael Scott
• U.S. Amateur – George Dunlap
• Women's Western Open – June Beebe

Horse racing

England

• Champion Hurdle – Insurance (2nd successive win)
• Cheltenham Gold Cup – Golden Miller (2nd successive win)
• Grand National – Kellsboro Jack
• 1,000 Guineas Stakes – Brown Betty
• 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Rodosto
• Epsom Derby – Hyperion
• Epsom Oaks – Chatelaine
• St. Leger Stakes – Hyperion

Australia

• Melbourne Cup – Hall Mark

Canada

• Queen's Plate – King O'Connor

France

• Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe – Crapom

Ireland

• Irish Grand National – Red Park
• Irish Derby Stakes – Harinero

USA

• Kentucky Derby – Broker's Tip
• Preakness Stakes – Head Play
• Belmont Stakes – Hurryoff

Ice hockey

• 4 April - 13 April – New York Rangers defeat Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 in a best of five series to win their second Stanley Cup.

Motor racing

• 30 May - Louis Meyer wins the 21st running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the Tydol Special Miller in 4:48:00.75.

Nordic skiing

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships

• 7th FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1933 are held at Innsbruck, Austria

Radiosport

Events

• First ever ARRL Field Day contest held in July

Rowing

The Boat Race

• 1 April — Cambridge wins the 85th Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race

Rugby league

England

• Championship – Salford
• Challenge Cup final – at Empire Stadium, Wembley, London
• Lancashire League Championship – Salford
• Yorkshire League Championship – Castleford
• Lancashire Cup – Warrington
• Yorkshire Cup – Leeds

Australia

• NSW Premiership – Newtown 18–4 St. George (grand final)
• An exhibition match between Great Britain and Australia at Paris' Stade Pershing in December 1933 inspired the beginnings of rugby league in France.

Rugby union

Home Nations Championship

• 46th Home Nations Championship series is won by Scotland

Snooker

World Championship

• 7th World Snooker Championship is won by Joe Davis who defeats Willie Smith 25–18

Speed skating

Speed Skating World Championships

• Men's All-round Champion – Hans Engnestangen (Norway)

Tennis

Australia

• Australian Men's Singles Championship – Jack Crawford (Australia) defeats Keith Gledhill (USA) 2–6, 7–5, 6–3, 6–2
• Australian Women's Singles Championship – Joan Hartigan Bathurst (Australia) defeats Coral Buttsworth (Australia) 6–4, 6–3

England

• Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – Jack Crawford (Australia) defeats Ellsworth Vines (USA) 4–6, 11–9, 6–2, 2–6, 6–4
• Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – Helen Wills Moody (USA) defeats Dorothy Round Little (Great Britain) 6–4, 6–8, 6–3

France

• French Men's Singles Championship – Jack Crawford (Australia) defeats Henri Cochet (France) 8–6, 6–1, 6–3
• French Women's Singles Championship – Margaret Scriven Vivian (Great Britain) defeats Simonne Mathieu (France) 6–2, 4–6, 6–4

USA

• American Men's Singles Championship – Fred Perry (Great Britain) defeats Jack Crawford (Australia) 6–3, 11–13, 4–6, 6–0, 6–1
• American Women's Singles Championship – Helen Jacobs (USA) defeats Helen Wills Moody (USA) 8–6, 3–6, 3–0, retired

Davis Cup

• 1933 International Lawn Tennis Challenge – Great Britain at 3–2 France at Stade Roland Garros (clay) Paris, France

Awards

Associated Press Athlete of the Year

• Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Carl Hubbell (baseball)
• Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Helen Jacobs (tennis)

Notes

^a An error in calculating points caused Yorkshire Second Eleven to meet and defeat Norfolk in the Minor Counties Challenge Match when that honour should have gone to Wiltshire; by the time the error was discovered, it was October and the weather was unsuitable for cricket, so the Championship was ruled “undecided”