1947 in sports

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

yp1=1944
yp2=1945
yp3=1946
year=1947
ya1=1948
ya2=1949
ya3=1950
dp3=1910s
dp2=1920s
dp1=1930s
d=1940s
da=0
dn1=1950s
dn2=1960s
dn3=1970s|

Athletics

Marathon

* August 20 — flagicon|NED Enschede Marathon, Netherlands
**Men's Winner: Eero Riikonen (FIN) 2:44:13

* December 7 — flagicon|JPN Fukuoka Marathon, Japan
**Men's Winner: Toshikazu Wada (JPN) 2:45:45

Auto racing

* Wally Parks founds the Southern California Timing Association, to better organize drag racing.

Baseball

* Jackie Robinson becomes the first African-American baseball player in Major League Baseball.

*April 27 - Babe Ruth day was celebrated all across the Major Leagues, Babe himself appeared in Yankee Stadium. Although stricken with throat cancer, Ruth said to the audience "The only real game I think in the world is baseball."

*World Series - New York Yankees beat Brooklyn Dodgers 4 games to 3.

Boxing

*Rocky Graziano defeats Tony Zale to win boxing’s world middleweight championship.
*December 5 - Joe Louis defeats Jersey Joe Walcott to retain his heavyweight championship

Figure skating

*World Figure Skating Championships
**Men's champion: Hans Gerschwiler, Switzerland
**Ladies' champion: Barbara Ann Scott, Canada
**Pair skating champions: Micheline Lannoy & Pierre Baugniet, Belgium

Football (NFL)

*The Chicago Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles 28-21.

=Football (Australian)=

* Victorian Football League
** Carlton wins the 51st VFL Premiership (Carlton 13.8 (86) d Essendon 11.17 (83))
** Brownlow Medal awarded to Bert Deacon (Carlton)

Football (soccer)

England

* First Division - Liverpool win the 1946-47 title.
*FA Cup - Charlton Athletic beat Burnley 1-0 after extra time

Golf

Men's professional
*April 3-6 - Masters Tournament - Jimmy Demaret
*June 12-15 - U.S. Open - Lew Worsham
*June 24 - PGA Championship - Jim Ferrier
*July 1-4 - British Open - Fred DalyMen's amateur
*British Amateur - Willie Turnesa
*U.S. Amateur - Skee RiegelWomen's professional
*Women's Western Open - Louise Suggs
*U.S. Women's Open - Betty Jameson
*Titleholders Championship - Babe Zaharias

Horse Racing

* May 3 - Kentucky Derby - Jet Pilot
* Preakness - Faultless: this race is remembered for Clem McCarthy calling Jet Pilot the winner when in reality it was Faultless, a true major radio blunder
* Belmont Stakes - Phalanx

Snooker

*World Snooker Championship: Walter Donaldson beats Fred Davis 82-63.

Awards

*Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year: Johnny Lujack, College football
*Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year: Babe Didrikson Zaharias, LPGA golf

Births

* January 20 — Cyrille Guimard, French racing cyclist
* January 25 — Bruce Bradley, American water polo player
* January 31 — Nolan Ryan, Baseball Hall of Famer
* February 1 — Gaston Rahier, Belgian motocross racer (d. 2005)
* February 5 — Darrell Waltrip, American automobile racer and broadcaster
* February 18 — Gary Sheerer, American polo player
* February 28 — Włodzimierz Lubański, Polish football (soccer) striker
* March 3 — Ian O'Brien, Australian breaststroke swimmer
* March 7 — Walter Röhrl, German car racer
* March 10 — Zachary Zorn, American swimmer
* March 21 — Ferenc Szekeres, Hungarian long-distance runner
* March 26 — John van Reenen, South African discus thrower
* April 5 — Đurđica Bjedov, Yugoslav breaststroke swimmer
* April 15 — Onny Parun, New Zealand tennis player
* May 21 — Hans Hoogveld, Dutch water polo player
* May 22 — Alberto Alberani, Italian water polo player
* May 27 — Branko Oblak, Slovenian football (soccer) player and coach
* May 29 — Peter Lown, UK-born Canadian field hockey player
* June 2 — Giorgio Cagnotto, Italian diver
* June 2 — Sonia Robertson and Sandra Chick, Zimbabwean field hockey players and twin sisters
* June 6 — Marion Coakes, English equestrian show jumper
* June 19 — James Mason, Australian field hockey player
* June 25 — John Powell, American discus thrower
* June 27 — Pete Maravich, American basketball player (d. 1988)
* July 22 — Amado Morales, Puerto Rican javelin thrower
* July 24 — Jacques Fouroux, French rugby union player (d. 2005)
* July 30 — James Slatton, American water polo player
* August 26 — Jan Krekels, Dutch cyclist
* August 28 — Boris Zaychuk, Soviet hammer thrower
* September 7 — Wim Hermsen, Dutch water polo player
* September 8 — Amos Biwott, Kenyan athlete
* September 20 — Victor Zilberman, Romanian boxer
* September 25 — Ali Parvin, Iranian football (soccer) player
* September 27 — Jan Borren, Dutch-born New Zealand field hockey player and coach
* October 3 — Carroll Morgan, Canadian heavyweight boxer
* October 6 — Klaus Dibiasi, Italian diver
* October 8 — Emiel Puttemans, Belgian middle- and long-distance runner
* October 11 — Alan Pascoe, British athlete
* October 23 — Kazimierz Deyna, Polish football (soccer) player (d. 1989)
* November 1 — Rolando Garbey, Cuban boxer
* November 5 — Oleg Antropov, Soviet volleyball player
* November 17 — Keith Remfry, British judoka
* December 5 — Ain Roost, Swedish-Canadian discus thrower
* December 16 — Vincent Matthews, American track and field athlete
* December 27 — Willy Polleunis, Belgian long-distance runner

Deaths

* January 20 — Josh Gibson (35), famed Negro League slugger
* January 21 — Hermann Müller, German race walker (b. 1885)
* February 6 — Theodor Nauman (61), Swedish water polo player (b. 1885)