1938 in sports

yearbox
in?=in sports
cp=19th century
c=20th century
cf=21st century

yp1=1935
yp2=1936
yp3=1937
year=1938
ya1=1939
ya2=1940
ya3=1941
dp3=1900s
dp2=1910s
dp1=1920s
d=1930s
da=0
dn1=1940s
dn2=1950s
dn3=1960s|

Athletics

Marathon

* September 4 — flagicon|FRA European Championships Marathon, Paris, France
**Men's Winner: Väinö Muinonen (FIN) 2:37:29

Auto racing

*Grand Prix racing - "Main article: 1938 Grand Prix season." European Champion: Rudolf Caracciola

Baseball

* World Series: New York Yankees defeat the Chicago Cubs, 4-0.
* Hall of Fame election: Continuing toward the goal of 10 initial inductees at the 1939 opening of the Hall, voters select Grover Cleveland Alexander. A special committee selects organizer Alexander Cartwright and promoter Henry Chadwick; selections of 19th century players are again postponed.
* Starting pitcher Johnny Vander Meer throws back-to-back no-hitters, meaning they came in two consecutive starts, something not accomplished before or since.

Basketball

* The sixth South American Basketball Championship in Lima is won by Peru.

Boxing

* May 23 – Dutch boxer Bep van Klaveren claims the European title in the middleweight division by defeating Frenchman Edouard Tenet in a match held in the Feijenoord Stadium in his native Rotterdam.
* American boxer Henry Armstrong simultaneously holds the featherweight, welterweight & lightweight world titles.

Figure skating

*World Figure Skating Championships:
**Men's champion: Felix Kaspar, Austria
**Ladies' champion: Megan Taylor, Great Britain
**Pair skating champion: Maxi Herber & Ernst Baier, Germany

=Football (American)=

* New York Giants 23-17 Green Bay Packers for the NFL title.
* First High School Oil Bowl is played.

=Football (Australian)=

* Victorian Football League
** Carlton wins the 42nd VFL Premiership (Carlton 15.10 (100) d Collingwood 13.7 (85))
** Brownlow Medal awarded to Dick Reynolds (Essendon)

Football (soccer)

*1938 World Cup held in France - Italy retain their title, beating Hungary 4-2 in the final.

England

* First Division - Arsenal win the 1937-38 title.
* FA Cup - Preston North End beat Huddersfield Town 1-0.

Golf

Men's professional
*April 1-4 - Masters Tournament - Henry Picard
*June 9-11 - U.S. Open - Ralph Guldahl
*July 5-8 - British Open - Reg Whitcombe
*July 16 - PGA Championship - Paul RunyanMen's amateur
*British Amateur - Charles Yates
*U.S. Amateur - Willie TurnesaWomen's professional
*Women's Western Open - Bea Barrett
*Titleholders Championship - Patty Berg

Horse Racing

* May 7 - Lawrin wins the Kentucky Derby

Snooker

*World Snooker Championship: Joe Davis beats Sidney Smith 37-24

Tennis

*American, Don Budge becomes the first male tennis player to complete the Grand Slam in tennis of all 4 Championships.

Events

* February - British Empire Games held in Sydney, Australia
*March 3 - Glenn Cunningham breaks the world record for the indoor mile run by completing the distance in 4 minutes, 4.4 seconds.
*In what was billed as the "Match of the Century", Seabiscuit defeated the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing champion, War Admiral.
*The Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway, the first aerial tramway in the United States, opens at Cannon Mountain Ski Area.

Awards

*Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year: Don Budge, Tennis
*Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year: Patty Berg, LPGA golf

Births

* January 17 — David Theile, Australian backstroke swimmer
* January 18 — Tilly van der Zwaard, Dutch middle distance runner
* February 11 — Mohammed Gammoudi, Tunisian athlete
* February 19 — Wim van Spingelen, Dutch water polo player
* February 26 — Brian Kilby, British marathon runner
* February 28 — Terence Spinks, British boxer
* March 16 — Thomas A. Robinson, Bahamian track and field athlete
* April 12 — Clement Quartey, Ghanaian boxer
* April 20 — Betty Cuthbert, Australian athlete
* April 26 — Nino Benvenuti, Italian boxer
* May 1 — Nikolay Karpol, Russian women's volleyball coach
* May 7 — John Caldwell, Irish boxer
* May 10 — Manuel Santana, Spanish tennis player
* May 11 — Siegmar Ohlemann, Canadian track and field athlete
* May 20 — Stien Kaiser, Dutch ice speed skater
* May 20 — Harry Vriend, Dutch water polo player
* May 22 — Rafael Romero, Venezuelan track and field athlete
* June 5 — Roy Higgins, Australian jockey
* June 24 — Boris Lagutin, Soviet boxer
* July 12 — Wieger Mensonides, Dutch swimmer
* August 13 — Luis Estaba, Venezuelan boxer
* August 30 — Alfred Meakin, British track and field athlete
* September 4 — Robert Carmody, American boxer (d. 1967)
* September 8 — Kenichi Horie, Japanese solo yachtsman
* October 3 — Alessandro Mazzinghi, Italian boxer
* October 6 — Brunon Bendig, Polish boxer (d. 2006)
* October 7 — Anny Haydon, tennis champion
* October 10 — Héctor Thomas, Venezuelan decathlete
* October 13 — Fred van Dorp, Dutch water polo player
* October 17 — Lorraine Crapp, Australian swimmer
* October 24 — Ross McPherson, New Zealand field hockey goalkeeper
* November 3 — Frank McKinney, American backstroke swimmer (d. 1992)

Deaths

* January 27 — Bernd Rosemeyer (28), German race car driver (b. 1909)
* March 22 — Frigyes Wiesner (50), Hungarian athlete (b. 1887)
* July 4 — Suzanne Lenglen (39), French tennis player (b. 1899)