:''Note — many sporting events did not take place because of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
''
1940 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.
Alpine skiing
Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships
* The 10th FIS Alpine World Ski Championships are cancelled due to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
NFL championship
* The
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
defeat the
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
73–0 in the
NFL championship game
Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...
.
** This game still holds records for the highest score and biggest win in National Football League history.
College championship
* College football
national championship
A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...
–
Minnesota Golden Gophers
The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Te ...
Association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
*
La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...
Primeira Liga
The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...
– won by
F.C. Porto
Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...
.
*There is no major football competition in England, Scotland or France due to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. In England, several regional leagues are set up but statistics from these are not counted in players’ figures.
Athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...
* The
1940 Summer Olympics
The 1940 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XII Olympiad, were originally scheduled to be held from September 21 to October 6, 1940, in Tokyo City, Empire of Japan. They were rescheduled for Helsinki, Finland, to be held from ...
to be held in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
, were cancelled due to outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Helsinki Olympic Stadium
The Helsinki Olympic Stadium ( fi, Helsingin Olympiastadion; sv, Helsingfors Olympiastadion), located in the Töölö district about from the centre of the Finnish capital Helsinki, is the largest stadium in the country, nowadays mainly used f ...
, exceptionally held as a triple international between Finland, Sweden and Germany.
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
*
Victorian Football League
The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...
** 28 September: Melbourne wins the 44th VFL Premiership, defeating
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
15.17 (107) to 10.8 (68) in the
1940 VFL Grand Final
The 1940 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Melbourne Football Club and Richmond Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 28 September 1940. It was the 42nd annual Grand Final ...
.
**
Brownlow Medal
The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the " best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...
awarded to
Des Fothergill
Desmond Hugh Fothergill (15 July 1920 – 16 March 1996) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and for Williamstown Football Club in the Victorian Football Associatio ...
Herbie Matthews
Herbie Matthews (20 November 1913 – 8 June 1990) was an Australian rules footballer who played for South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He was recruited to South Melbourne from suburban club Fairfield. His father, "Butche ...
(
South Melbourne
South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...
)
*
South Australian National Football League
The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport.
Originally formed as the ...
South Adelaide
The South Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club that competes in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Known as the ''Panthers'', their home ground is Flinders University StadiumSANFL premiership, but their last until 1966.
*
Western Australian National Football League
The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...
** 17 August: Claremont become the first team to score 200 points in a senior WANFL match when they kick 33.22 (220) against
Swan Districts
The Swan Districts Football Club, nicknamed the Swans, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The club is based at Bassendean Oval, in Bassendean, an eastern suburb ...
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
1940 World Series
The 1940 World Series matched the Cincinnati Reds against the Detroit Tigers, with the Reds winning a closely contested seven-game series. The victory secured the Reds the second championship in their franchise history and came 21 years after th ...
by 4 games to 3
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
NBL Championship
*
Akron Firestone Non-Skids
The Akron Firestone Non-Skids were an American professional basketball team based in Akron, Ohio. The team was one of the thirteen founding members of the National Basketball League (NBL), which formed in 1937. The team was named for the Firesto ...
win three games to two over the
Oshkosh All-Stars
The Oshkosh All-Stars were an American professional basketball team based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Founded in 1929 by Lonnie Darling, the team was a member of the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball League, a forerunner t ...
Events
* The eighth
South American Basketball Championship
The South American Basketball Championship, or FIBA South American Championship, is the main FIBA tournament for men's national teams from South America's region of FIBA Americas. The tournament was first played in 1930. The tournament often has ...
in
Montevideo
Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
is won by
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
.
Boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
Events
* 4 October –
Henry Armstrong
Henry Jackson Jr. (December 12, 1912 – October 24, 1988) was an American professional boxer and a world boxing champion who fought under the name Henry Armstrong.
Armstrong was one of the few fighters to win in three or more different divisio ...
loses the last of his three world titles when defeated by new
World Welterweight Champion
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
Fritzie Zivic
Fritzie Zivic (May 8, 1913 – May 16, 1984), born as Ferdinand Henry John Zivcich ( hr, Živčić), was an American boxer who held the world welterweight championship from October 4, 1940, until July 29, 1941. His managers included Luke Carney, ...
over fifteen rounds in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
Lineal world champions
*
World Heavyweight Champion
At boxing's beginning, the heavyweight division had no weight limit, and historically the weight class has gone with vague or no definition. During the 19th century many heavyweights were 170 pounds (12 st 2 lb, 77 kg) or less, tho ...
ship –
Joe Louis
Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He rei ...
*
World Light Heavyweight Champion
This is a chronological list of world light heavyweight boxing champions, as recognized by four of the better-known sanctioning organizations:
Championship recognition
1903–1910
The light-heavyweight division was created in 1903, the brainc ...
ship –
Billy Conn
William David Conn (October 8, 1917 – May 29, 1993) was an Irish American professional boxer and Light Heavyweight Champion famed for his fights with Joe Louis. He had a professional boxing record of 63 wins, 11 losses and 1 draw, with 14 wins ...
World Welterweight Champion
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
ship –
Henry Armstrong
Henry Jackson Jr. (December 12, 1912 – October 24, 1988) was an American professional boxer and a world boxing champion who fought under the name Henry Armstrong.
Armstrong was one of the few fighters to win in three or more different divisio ...
→
Fritzie Zivic
Fritzie Zivic (May 8, 1913 – May 16, 1984), born as Ferdinand Henry John Zivcich ( hr, Živčić), was an American boxer who held the world welterweight championship from October 4, 1940, until July 29, 1941. His managers included Luke Carney, ...
Lou Ambers
Luigi Giuseppe d'Ambrosio (November 8, 1913 – April 25, 1995), a.k.a. Lou Ambers, was an American World Lightweight boxing champion who fought from 1932 to 1941. Ambers fought many other boxing greats, such as Henry Armstrong and Tony Canzoneri ...
→
Lew Jenkins
Lew Jenkins (December 4, 1916 – October 30, 1981) was an American boxer and NYSAC and ''The Ring'' lightweight champion from 1940-1941. He was born in Milburn, Texas and was raised during the Great Depression. He began fighting in carnivals a ...
*
World Featherweight Champion Championship recognition
Public Acclamation: 1884 to 1921
Champions were recognized by wide public acclamation. A heavyweight champion was a boxer who had a notable win over another notable boxer and then went without defeat. Retirements from the ...
ship –
Joey Archibald
Joey Archibald (February 20, 1914 – February 3, 1998) was a National Boxing Association (NBA) world featherweight boxing champion in April 1939. He was managed by Al Weill, and his trainer was Charlie Goldman."Leo Rodak Beaten in Fifteen ...
→
Harry Jeffra
Harry Jeffra (born Ignacius Pasquale Guiffi on November 30, 1914 – September 1988) was an American boxer. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, he became a World Bantamweight and NYSAC World Featherweight boxing champion. Jeffra's career spanned from 193 ...
*
World Bantamweight Champion
This is a list of world bantamweight boxing champions, as recognized by the four major sanctioning organizations in boxing:
* The World Boxing Association (WBA), established in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA). The WBA often recognize ...
ship – vacant →
Lou Salica
Louis ("Lou") Salica (November 16, 1912 – January 30, 2002) was an American boxer, who captured the National Boxing Association World Bantamweight Title twice in his career, in 1935 and 1940. His managers were Hymie Kaplan and Willie Ketch ...
*
World Flyweight Champion
This is a list of world flyweight boxing champions, as recognized by the four major sanctioning organizations in boxing:
* The World Boxing Association (WBA), established in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA). The WBA often recognize up ...
ship – vacant
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
England
* Because of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, no
first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...
is played in England from 1940 to 1944, and the
Minor Counties Championship
The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...
is similarly not contested until 1946.
Australia
*
Sheffield Shield
The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Shi ...
–
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
* Most runs –
Don Bradman
Sir Donald George Bradman, (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 has bee ...
, 1475 @ 122.61 (HS 267)
* Most wickets –
Clarrie Grimmett
Clarence Victor "Clarrie" Grimmett (25 December 1891 – 2 May 1980) was a New Zealand-born Australian cricketer. He is thought by many to be one of the finest early spin bowlers, and usually credited as the developer of the flipper.
Early li ...
73 @ 22.65 (BB 6–57)
India
*
Ranji Trophy
The Ranji Trophy (also known as Mastercard Ranji Trophy for sponsorship reasons) is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams representing regional and state cricket associations. Board of Control for Cr ...
–
Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
Bombay Pentangular
The Bombay Quadrangular was an influential cricket tournament held in Bombay, British India between 1892–93 and 1945–46.
At other times it was known variously as the Presidency Match, Bombay Triangular, and the Bombay Pentangular.
Presidency ...
–
Hindus
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
New Zealand
*
Plunket Shield
New Zealand has had a domestic first-class cricket championship since the 1906–07 season. Since the 2009–10 season it has been known by its original name of the Plunket Shield.
History
The Plunket Shield competition was instigated in Octob ...
–
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
South Africa
* The Currie Cup is not contested, but a total of nineteen first-class friendly matches are held. Inter-provincial cricket is abandoned after the 1939–40 season until the end of the war.
* Most runs –
Eric Rowan
Eric Alfred Burchell Rowan (20 July 1909 – 30 April 1993) was a South African cricketer who played for Transvaal, Eastern Province and South Africa.
An opening batsman, Rowan was a dominant personality in South African cricket for more than ...
, 590 @ 147.50 (HS 306 not out)
* Most wickets – Norman Gordon 28 @ 14.92 (BB 6–61)
West Indies
* No first-class cricket is played in the 1939–40 season due to the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, though in later years a few matches are arranged.
Cycling
Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...
Tour de France
The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...
* not contested due to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Fausto Coppi
Angelo Fausto Coppi (; 15 September 1919 – 2 January 1960) was an Italian cyclist, the dominant international cyclist of the years after the World War II, Second World War. His successes earned him the title ''Il Campionissimo'' ("Champio ...
Figure skating
Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...
World Figure Skating Championships
* not contested due to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
Men's professional
*
Masters Tournament
The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...
–
Jimmy Demaret
James Newton Demaret (May 24, 1910 – December 28, 1983) was an American professional golfer. He won 31 PGA Tour events in a long career between 1935 and 1957, and was the first three-time winner of the Masters, with titles in 1940, 1947, and ...
Lawson Little
William Lawson Little Jr. (June 23, 1910 – February 1, 1968) was an American professional golfer who also had a distinguished amateur career.
Little was born in Newport, Rhode Island, and lived much of his early life in the San Francisco area, ...
*
British Open
The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...
– not played due to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
*
PGA Championship
The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...
–
Byron Nelson
John Byron Nelson Jr. (February 4, 1912 – September 26, 2006) was an American professional golfer between 1935 and 1946, widely considered one of the greatest golfers of all time.
Nelson and two other legendary champions of the time, Ben Hog ...
Men's amateur
*
British Amateur
The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...
– not played due to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
*
U.S. Amateur
The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...
–
Dick Chapman
Richard Davol Chapman (March 23, 1911 – November 15, 1978) was an American amateur golfer. ''Time'' magazine crowned Chapman "the Ben Hogan of amateur golf".
Chapman was born in Greenwich, Connecticut. He was the 1940 U.S. Amateur golf cha ...
Women's professional
*
Women's Western Open
The Women's Western Open was an American professional golf tournament founded in 1930. The LPGA was established in 1950, and it recognized the Western Open as one of its major championships through 1967. All of the events back to 1930 have been ...
–
Babe Zaharias
Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias (; Didrikson; June 26, 1911 – September 27, 1956) was an American athlete who excelled in golf, basketball, baseball and track and field. She won two gold medals in track and field at the 1932 Summer O ...
*
Titleholders Championship
The Titleholders Championship was a women's golf tournament played from in 1937 to 1966 and again in 1972. It was later designated a major championship by the LPGA Tour.
History
The Titleholders Championship was founded in 1937. Like the Masters ...
–
Helen Hicks
Helen L. Hicks Harb (February 11, 1911 – December 16, 1974) was an American professional golfer and one of 13 founders of the LPGA in 1950.
Biography
Hicks was born in Cedarhurst, New York. She began playing golf at the age of 15, after bei ...
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...
* March 2 – in his final race,
Seabiscuit
Seabiscuit (May 23, 1933 – May 17, 1947) was a champion thoroughbred racehorse in the United States who became the top money-winning racehorse up to the 1940s. He beat the 1937 Triple Crown winner, War Admiral, by four lengths in a two-horse ...
wins the $121,000
Santa Anita Handicap
The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses four years old and up and was once considered the most important race for old ...
Steeplechases
*
Cheltenham Gold Cup
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs ( ...
–
Roman Hackle
Roman Hackle (foaled 1933) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1940 Cheltenham Gold Cup. After winning several races over hurdles he was switched to steeplechasing in 1939 and made an immediate impact by winning the Broadway Novices ...
*
Grand National
The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap ...
Champion Hurdle
The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a ...
–
Solford
Solford (foaled 31 January 1980) was an American-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire (horse), sire. He was undefeated in his first five races, culminating in a victory over a strong international field in the Eclipse Stakes in 198 ...
Flat races
* Australia –
Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbou ...
won by
Old Rowley
Old Rowley was the name of a stallion racehorse belonging to King Charles II of England, Charles II (1660-1685) of England. The Newmarket Racecourse, Rowley Mile Racecourse at Newmarket, Suffolk, developed by the king as a national centre for hor ...
* Canada –
King's Plate
The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate between 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest Thoroughbred horse race, having been founded in 1860. It is also the oldest continuously run race in North America. It is run at a distance of ...
Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, France, over a distance ...
– ''not held due to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
''
* Ireland –
Irish Derby Stakes
The Irish Derby (Irish: Dearbaí na hÉireann) is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 ...
won by
Turkhan
Turkhan (1937 – after 1952) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire, who raced during World War II and was best known for winning the classic St Leger in 1940. He showed good form as a two-year-old, winning the Coventry Stakes at R ...
*
English Triple Crown Races
The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, often shortened to Triple Crown, is a series of horse races for Thoroughbreds, often restricted to three-year-olds. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplis ...
:
*#
2,000 Guineas Stakes
The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) and scheduled to take place each year at ...
–
Djebel
: ''For mountains or other uses, see: Jabal.''
Djebel (1937–1958) was a French Thoroughbred racehorse, who won 15 of 22 races during 1939–1942 including the Prix d'Essai, 2000 Guineas and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. He was later a leading s ...
St. Leger Stakes
The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a ...
–
Turkhan
Turkhan (1937 – after 1952) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire, who raced during World War II and was best known for winning the classic St Leger in 1940. He showed good form as a two-year-old, winning the Coventry Stakes at R ...
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...
–
Gallahadion
Gallahadion (March 31, 1937 – July 7, 1958) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known as the 1940 winner of the Kentucky Derby. He was a son of the Champion sire Sir Gallahad III, and his dam-sire was U.S. Horse of the Year Reigh C ...
*#
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () on ...
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Bimelech
Bimelech (February 27, 1937 – 1966) was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse who won two Triple Crown races and was a Champion at both age two and three. He was ranked #84 among U.S. racehorses of the 20th century. After retiring to stud, he sired ...
*#
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...
–
Bimelech
Bimelech (February 27, 1937 – 1966) was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse who won two Triple Crown races and was a Champion at both age two and three. He was ranked #84 among U.S. racehorses of the 20th century. After retiring to stud, he sired ...
Ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
* The
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...
defeat the
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...
4 games to 2 to win the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
's
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
.
Motorsport
Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
1940 Winter Olympics
* The
1940 Winter Olympics
The 1940 Winter Olympics, which would have been officially known as the and as Sapporo 1940 (札幌1940), were to have been celebrated from 3 to 12 February 1940 in Sapporo, Japan, but the games were eventually cancelled due to the onset of Wo ...
, due to take place at
Sapporo
( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...
, are cancelled due to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
*
1940 Summer Olympics
* The
1940 Summer Olympics
The 1940 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XII Olympiad, were originally scheduled to be held from September 21 to October 6, 1940, in Tokyo City, Empire of Japan. They were rescheduled for Helsinki, Finland, to be held from ...
, due to take place at
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, are cancelled due to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
*
Rowing
Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...
The Boat Race
*
Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race
The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. There are separate men's a ...
is not contested due to World War II
Rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
1940 NSWRFL season
The 1940 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the thirty-third season of Sydney’s top-level rugby league club competition, Australia’s first. Eight teams from across the city contested the premiership during the season, which ...
*
1939–40 Northern Rugby Football League Wartime Emergency League season
The 1939–40 Northern Rugby Football League season was an emergency season of English rugby league fixtures necessitated by the outbreak of the Second World War. The regular league season had started at the end of August 1939, but on the outb ...
/
1940–41 Northern Rugby Football League Wartime Emergency League season
The 1940–41 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the second season of the English rugby league’s Wartime Emergency League necessitated by the Second World War. After doubts that the season might not start, matches were played in a league ...
Rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
*
Five Nations Championship
The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...
series is not contested due to World War II
Speed skating
Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors racing, race each other in travelling a certain distance on Ice skate, skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marath ...
Speed Skating World Championships
* not contested due to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
Adrian Quist
Adrian Karl Quist (23 January 191317 November 1991) was an Australian tennis player.
Biography
Adrian Quist was born in Medindie, South Australia. His father was Karl Quist, who had been a noted interstate cricketer, and owned a sporting goods ...
Nancye Wynne Bolton
Nancye Wynne Bolton (née Wynne; 2 December 1916 – 9 November 2001) was a tennis player from Australia. She won the women's singles title six times at the Australian Championships, third only to Margaret Court's and Serena Williams' 11 and 7 ...
(Australia) defeats
Thelma Coyne Long
Thelma Dorothy Coyne Long (née Coyne; 14 October 1918 – 13 April 2015) was an Australian tennis player and one of the female players who dominated Australian tennis from the mid-1930s to the 1950s. During her career she won 19 Grand Sla ...
Bobby Riggs
Robert Larimore Riggs (February 25, 1918 – October 25, 1995) was an American tennis champion who was the World No. 1 amateur in 1939 and World No. 1 professional in 1946 and 1947. He played his first professional tennis match on December ...
Alice Marble
Alice Marble (September 28, 1913 – December 13, 1990) was an American tennis player who won 18 Grand Slam championships between 1936 and 1940: five in singles, six in women's doubles, and seven in mixed doubles. She was ranked world No. 1 in 193 ...
(USA) defeats
Helen Jacobs
Helen Hull Jacobs (August 6, 1908 – June 2, 1997) was an American tennis player who won nine Grand Slam titles. In 1936 she was ranked No. 1 in singles by A. Wallis Myers.
Early life
Jacobs was born in Globe, Arizona, and was Jewish. Her pare ...
(USA) 6–2, 6–3
Davis Cup
* 1940 International Lawn Tennis Challenge – ''not contested''
Awards
*
Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year
The first Athlete of the Year award in the United States was initiated by the Associated Press (AP) in 1931. At a time when women's sports, women in sports were not given the same recognition as men, the AP offered a male and a female athlete of th ...
–
Tom Harmon
Thomas Dudley Harmon (September 28, 1919 – March 15, 1990), known as Tom Harmon, as well as by the nickname "Old 98", was an American football player, military pilot, actor, and sports broadcaster.
Harmon grew up in Gary, Indiana, and playe ...
,
College football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
*
Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year
The first Athlete of the Year award in the United States was initiated by the Associated Press (AP) in 1931. At a time when women in sports were not given the same recognition as men, the AP offered a male and a female athlete of the year award to ...
–
Alice Marble
Alice Marble (September 28, 1913 – December 13, 1990) was an American tennis player who won 18 Grand Slam championships between 1936 and 1940: five in singles, six in women's doubles, and seven in mixed doubles. She was ranked world No. 1 in 193 ...
,
Tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...