1951 in sports

Auto Racing

• NASCAR Championship - Herb Thomas[?]
• AAA Racing:
  • Tony Bettenhausen[?] won the series championship
  • Lee Wallard[?] won the Indianapolis 500
• Formula One Championship - Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina
• 24 hours of Le Mans:
  • Louis Rosier[?] / Jean-Louis Rosier[?] won driving a Talbot-Lago[?]
• Rally racing:
  • Marcel Becquart[?] / H. Secret[?] won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Hotchkiss[?]
• Drag racing - NHRA founded by Wally Parks[?]

Baseball

• World Series: New York Yankees win 4 games to 2 over the New York Giants

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Kentucky wins 68-58 over Kansas St.

• NBA Finals:
  • Rochester Royals won 4 games to 3 over the New York Knicks

Boxing

• July 18, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Jersey Joe Walcott knocks out Ezzard Charles[?] in round 7.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Fiorenzo Magni[?] of Italy
• Tour de France - Hugo Koblet[?] of Switzerland
• World Cycling Championship: Ferdi Kubler[?] of Switzerland

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Dick Button[?], United States
  • Women's champion: Jeanette Altwegg[?], Great Britain
  • Pairs champions: Ria Baran[?] & Paul Falk[?], Germany

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Newcastle United won 2-0 over Blackpool

Football (American)

• January 14 - The National Football League has its first Pro Bowl[?] Game (Los Angeles, California).

• NFL Championship: Los Angeles Rams won 24-17 over the Cleveland Browns

Canadian Football League

• Grey Cup: Ottawa Rough Riders won 21-14 over the Saskatchewan Roughriders

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Ben Hogan
  2. June - US Open - Ben Hogan
  3. July - British Open - Max Faulkner[?]
  4. August - PGA Championship - Sam Snead

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Lloyd Mangrum[?] - $26,089

• Ryder Cup: United States team wins 9 1/2 to 2 1/2 over the British team in world golf.

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Betsy Rawls[?]

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• July 14 - Citation[?] won his 32nd race, the Hollywood Gold Cup[?], becoming the first equine millionaire.

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Delat[?]
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Major Factor[?]
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Tantième[?]
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Fraise du Bois[?]

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Ki Ming[?]
  2. Epsom Derby - Arctic Prince[?]
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Talma[?]

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Count Turf[?]
  2. Preakness Stakes - Bold[?]
  3. Belmont Stakes - Counterpoint

Harness Racing

• Tar Heel[?], a standardbred horse driven by Del Cameron[?], produced the first two-minute mile in harness racing history.

• Little Brown Jug for pacers won by Tar Heel[?]
• Hambletonian for trotters won by Mainliner[?]

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Vedette[?]
  • Trotters: Gay Belwin[?]

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings

• Hart Memorial Trophy: for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Milt Schmidt[?], Boston Bruins

• Stanley Cup: Toronto Maple Leafs win 4 games to 1 over the Montreal Canadiens

• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Canada's Lethbridge Maple Leafs[?]

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis mens results:
  1. Australian Open - Dick Savitt[?]
  2. French Open - Jaroslav Drobny[?]
  3. Wimbledon championships - Dick Savitt[?]
  4. US Open - Frank Sedgman[?]

• Grand Slam in tennis womens results:
  1. Australian Open - Nancy Wynne Bolton[?]
  2. French Open - Shirley Fry[?]
  3. Wimbledon championships - Doris Hart[?]
  4. US Open - Maureen Connolly

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

General sporting events

• February 25 - The first Pan American Games[?] are held, in Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Fred Davis[?] won the World Professional Snooker Championship

Births

• March 4 - Kenny Dalglish footballer and football manager
• April 29 - Dale Earnhardt, stock car racer (+ 2001)
• October 6 - Manfred Winkelhock, auto racing driver

Deaths

• February 25 - Smokey Joe Williams, baseball star
• March 25 - Eddie Collins[?], Major League Baseball player (106-1930)
• July 9 - Harry Heilmann[?], Major League Baseball player (1914-1932)
• August 26 - Bill Barilko[?], Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey player, plane crash
• December 5 - "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, Major League Baseball player (1908-1920)