1928 in sports
1928 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.
- Providence Steam Roller wins the National Football League title
- USC Trojans – college football national championship shared with Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
England
- The Football League – Everton 53 points, Huddersfield Town 51, Leicester City 48, Derby County 44, Bury 44, Cardiff City 44
- FA Cup final – Blackburn Rovers 3–1 Huddersfield Town at Empire Stadium, Wembley, London
Germany
- National Championship – Hamburger SV 5–2 Hertha BSC at Hamburg-Altona
VFL Premiership
- Collingwood wins the 32nd VFL Premiership: Collingwood 13.18 (96) d Richmond 9.9 (63) at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)
Brownlow Medal
- The annual Brownlow Medal is awarded to Ivor Warne-Smith (Melbourne)
Sweden
World Series
- 4–9 October — New York Yankees (AL) defeats St. Louis Cardinals (NL) to win the 1928 World Series by 4 games to 0
ABL Championship
- New York Celtics win three games to one over the Fort Wayne Hoosiers
Olympic Games (Men's Competition)
- A 5-man bob event is held at the 1928 Winter Olympics in St Moritz.
- The gold medal is won by USA II ahead of USA I (silver) and Germany II (bronze).
Events
- 26 July — Gene Tunney's final fight is a 12th round technical knockout of Tom Heeney in the Bronx; the World Heavyweight Championship becomes vacant until 1930
Lineal world champions[1]
- World Heavyweight Championship – Gene Tunney → vacant
- World Light Heavyweight Championship – Tommy Loughran
- World Middleweight Championship – Mickey Walker
- World Welterweight Championship – Joe Dundee
- World Lightweight Championship – Sammy Mandell
- World Featherweight Championship – vacant → Tony Canzoneri → Andre Routis
- World Bantamweight Championship – vacant
- World Flyweight Championship – vacant
Grey Cup
Events
- The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is inaugurated.
- The West Indian team touring England in the 1928 season is the first to play Test cricket but is not very successful, losing all three Tests by an innings and winning only five out of 30 first-class matches.
England
- County Championship – Lancashire
- Minor Counties Championship – Berkshire
- Most runs – Frank Woolley 3352 @ 60.94 (HS 198)
- Most wickets – Tich Freeman 304 @ 18.05 (BB 9–104)
- Wisden Cricketers of the Year – Leslie Ames, George Duckworth, Maurice Leyland, Sam Staples, Jack White
Australia
- Sheffield Shield – Victoria
- Most runs – Bill Ponsford 1217 @ 152.12 (HS 437)
- Most wickets – Clarrie Grimmett 42 @ 27.40 (BB 8–57)
India
New Zealand
South Africa
- Currie Cup – not contested
West Indies
Tour de France
- Nicolas Frantz (Luxembourg) wins the 22nd Tour de France
Olympic Games (Men's Competition)
- Gold Medal – India
- Silver Medal – Netherlands
- Bronze Medal – Germany
World Figure Skating Championships
- World Women's Champion – Sonja Henie (Norway)
- World Men's Champion – Willi Böckel (Austria)
- World Pairs Champions – Andreé Joly-Brunet and Pierre Brunet (France)
Major tournaments
Other tournaments
England
- Champion Hurdle – Brown Jack
- Cheltenham Gold Cup – Patron Saint
- Grand National – Tipperary Tim
- 1,000 Guineas Stakes – Scuttle
- 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Flamingo
- Epsom Derby – Felstead
- Epsom Oaks – Toboggan
- St. Leger Stakes – Fairway
Australia
- Melbourne Cup – Statesman
Canada
- Queen's Plate – Young Kitty
France
- Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe – Kantar
Ireland
- Irish Grand National – Don Sancho
- Irish Derby Stakes – Baytown
USA
- Kentucky Derby – Reigh Count
- Preakness Stakes – Victorian
- Belmont Stakes – Vito
Stanley Cup
- 5–14 April — New York Rangers defeats Montreal Maroons in the 1928 Stanley Cup Finals by 3 games to 2
Grand Prix racing
- 1 July — the 14th French Grand Prix, organised by the Automobile Club de France (ACF), is run at Saint-Gaudens over 260.00 km (26.00 km x 10 laps). The winner is William Grover-Williams (Great Britain) driving a Bugatti T35C in 2:27:40.8. The race is retrospectively referred to as the XXII Grand Prix de l'ACF.
- 9 September — the 8th Italian Grand Prix is run at Autodromo Nazionale Monza over 600.00 km (10.00 km x 60 laps). The winner is Louis Chiron (Monaco) driving a Bugatti T35C in 3:45:08.6. The race is officially titled the VIII Gran Premio d'Italia and is given the honorary designation of European Grand Prix.
Indianapolis 500
- 30 May — 16th running of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is won by Louis Meyer in a Miller.
Le Mans 24 hours
- The 6th Le Mans 24 hours race is won by Woolf Barnato (Great Britain) and Bernard Rubin (Great Britain) driving a Bentley 4½ Litre over 154 laps and 2669.272 km.
Olympic Games (Men's Competition)
- Cross-country skiing (18 km) – gold medal: Johan Grøttumsbråten (Norway)
- Cross-country skiing (50 km) – gold medal: Per-Erik Hedlund (Sweden)
- Ski jumping – gold medal: Alf Andersen (Norway)
- Nordic combined – gold medal: Johan Grøttumsbråten (Norway)
1928 Winter Olympics
- The 1928 Winter Olympics takes place at St Moritz in Switzerland
- Norway wins the most medals (15) and the most gold medals (6)
1928 Summer Olympics
- The 1928 Summer Olympics takes place at Amsterdam
- United States wins the most medals (56) and the most gold medals (22)
Events
- First ever organised radio contest is held: the ARRL International Relay Party, sponsored by the American Radio Relay League
The Boat Race
- 31 March — Cambridge wins the 80th Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race
England
- Championship – Swinton
- Challenge Cup final – Swinton 5–3 Warrington at Central Park, Wigan
- Lancashire League Championship – Swinton
- Yorkshire League Championship – Leeds
- Lancashire Cup – Swinton 5–2 Wigan
- Yorkshire Cup – Dewsbury 8–2 Hull
Australia
- NSW Premiership – South Sydney 26–5 Eastern Suburbs (grand final)
Five Nations Championship
- 41st Five Nations Championship series is won by England who complete the Grand Slam
World Championship
- 2nd World Snooker Championship is won by Joe Davis who defeats Fred Lawrence 16–13
Speed Skating World Championships
- Men's All-round Champion – Clas Thunberg (Finland)
1928 Winter Olympics
- 500m – gold medal: Bernt Evensen (Norway)
- 1500m – gold medal: Clas Thunberg (Finland)
- 5000m – gold medal: Ivar Ballangrud (Norway)
- 10000m – cancelled due to thawing ice
- All-round – removed from program
Australia
- Australian Men's Singles Championship – Jean Borotra (France) defeats Jack Cummings (Australia) 6–4 6–1 4–6 5–7 6–3
- Australian Women's Singles Championship – Daphne Akhurst Cozens (Australia) defeats Esna Boyd Robertson (Australia) 7–5 6–2
England
- Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – René Lacoste (France) defeats Henri Cochet (France) 6–1 4–6 6–4 6–2
- Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – Helen Wills Moody (USA) defeats Lilí de Álvarez (Spain) 6–2 6–3
France
- French Men's Singles Championship – Henri Cochet (France) defeats René Lacoste (France) 5–7 6–3 6–1 6–3
- French Women's Singles Championship – Helen Wills Moody (USA) defeats Eileen Bennett Whittingstall (Great Britain) 6–1 6–2
USA
- American Men's Singles Championship – Henri Cochet (France) defeats Francis Hunter (USA) 4–6 6–4 3–6 7–5 6–3
- American Women's Singles Championship – Helen Wills Moody (USA) defeats Helen Jacobs (USA) 6–2 6–1
Davis Cup
- 1928 International Lawn Tennis Challenge –
France 4–1 
United States at Stade Roland Garros (clay) Paris, France
