1962

Recap of the year 1962 in sports.

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Fireball Roberts won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Joe Weatherly
• Indianapolis 500 - Rodger Ward
• USAC Racing - Rodger Ward won the season championship
• Formula One Championship - Graham Hill of Great Britain
• 24 hours of Le Mans: won by the team of Olivier Gendebien / Phil Hill driving a Ferrari 330LM
• Rally racing - the team of Erik Carlsson / Gunnar Haggbom won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Saab 96
• Drag racing - Jack Chrisman won Top Eliminator at the NHRA Nationals

Baseball

• January 23: Bob Feller and Jackie Robinson are selected for the Baseball Hall of Fame in their first years of eligibility.

• October: National League pennant playoff: After finishing tied for the league lead, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants played-off for the title. The Giants won the series 2 games to 1, thereby winning the National League championship.

1962 World Series:

• New York Yankees win 4 games to 3 over the San Francisco Giants. The Series MVP was Ralph Terry, New York.

• 1962 in baseball

Basketball

• March 2 - In Hershey, Pennsylvania, Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scored 100 points against the New York Knicks, breaking several National Basketball Association records.

1962 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament:

• Cincinnati wins 71-59 over Ohio St.

NBA Finals:

• The Boston Celtics won the series 4-3 over the Los Angeles Lakers. This win marked their 4th consecutive championship and 5th in 6 years.

Boxing

• March 24, 1962 - Emile Griffith regained the World Welterweight Championship by knocking out Benny the "Kid" Paret in the 12th round. Paret died ten days later on April 3, 1962 as a result of severe head injuries sustained in the fight.
• September 25, 1962 - Sonny Liston knocks out Floyd Patterson, two minutes and six seconds into the first round, to become World Heavyweight Champion.

Football (American)

• AFL Championship: Dallas Texans won 20-17 over the Houston Oilers in double overtime
• NFL Championship: Green Bay Packers won 16-7 over the New York Giants

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Essendon wins the 66th VFL Premiership (13.12 (90) d Carlton 8.10 (58))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Alistair Lord (Geelong)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Winnipeg Blue Bombers win 28-27 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Tottenham Hotspur won 3-1 over Burnley

• Football World Cup in Chile: Brazil won 3-1 over Czechoslovakia

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters golf tournament - Arnold Palmer
  2. June - US Open - Jack Nicklaus
  3. July - British Open - Arnold Palmer
  4. August - PGA Championship - Gary Player

• Professional Golfers Association of America|PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Arnold Palmer - $81,448

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Murle Lindstrom
• LPGA Championship - Judy Kimball
• Mickey Wright: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $21,641

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Even Stevens
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Flaming Page
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Soltikoff
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Tambourine

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Privy Councillor
  2. Epsom Derby - Larkspur
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Hethersett

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Decidedly
  2. Preakness Stakes - Greek Money
  3. Belmont Stakes - Jaipur

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Bobby Hull, Chicago Blackhawks

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Jacques Plante, Montreal Canadiens

• Stanley Cup: Toronto Maple Leafs won 4 games to 2 over the Chicago Blackhawks

• World Hockey Championship:
  • Men's champion: Sweden defeated Canada

Skiing

• ISF World Championships:
  • Men's combined champion: Karl Schranz, Austria
  • Women's combined champion: Marielle Goitschel, France

Tennis

• Rod Laver becomes only the second man in tennis history to win the Grand Slam in tennis.

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Rod Laver
  2. French Open - Rod Laver
  3. Wimbledon championships - Rod Laver
  4. US Open - Rod Laver

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Margaret Smith
  2. French Open - Margaret Smith
  3. Wimbledon championships - Karen Susman
  4. US Open - Margaret Smith

• Davis Cup: Australia wins 5-0 over Mexico in world tennis.

General sporting events

• Asian Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia
• British Empire and Commonwealth Games held in Perth, Western Australia
• Second Winter Universiade held in Villars, Switzerland

Births

• January 18 — Laurie Gallen, New Zealand field hockey player
• February 2 — Andy Fordham, English darts player
• February 2 — Pedro Nolasco, Dominican boxer
• February 7 — Salvatore Antibo, Italian long distance runner
• February 10 — Bobby Czyz, Polish-American boxer
• February 14 — Philippe Sella, French rugby union player
• February 19 — Hana Mandlíková, Czech tennis player
• March 1 — Russell Coutts, New Zealand-born competitive sailor
• March 3 — Jackie Joyner-Kersee, US track and field athlete
• March 7 — Peter Manley, English darts player
• March 12 — Darryl Strawberry, baseball player
• March 13 — Liane Tooth, Australian field hockey forward
• March 22 — Juan Aguilera, Spanish tennis player
• March 23 — Steve Redgrave, British rower, five-time Olympic gold medalist
• March 26 — Paul Chamberlin, American tennis player
• March 26 — John Stockton, American basketball player, all-time NBA leader in assists and steals
• April 15 — Nawal El Moutawakel, Moroccan hurdler
• April 24 — Stuart Pearce, English footballer and manager
• May 30 — Jan Gunnarsson, Swedish tennis player
• June 19 — Jeremy Bates, British tennis player
• July 12 — Jin-Sun Yoo, South Korean tennis player
• July 27 — Neil Brooks, Australian swimmer
• August 1 — Robert Clift, British field hockey player
• August 1 — Jacob "Baby Jakes" Matlala , South African boxer
• August 2 — Mercedes Coghen, Spanish field hockey player
• August 4 — Roger Clemens, baseball pitcher, seven-time Cy Young Award winner
• August 5 — Patrick Ewing, American NBA player
• August 18 — Carina Benninga, Dutch field hockey international
• August 20 — Dong-Wook Song, South Korean tennis player
• September 1 — Ruud Gullit, Dutch football player and manager
• September 21 — Kelly Evernden, New Zealand tennis player
• September 30 — Frank Rijkaard, Dutch football (soccer) player and manager
• October 9 — Jorge Luis Burruchaga, Argentine football (soccer) player and coach
• October 13 — Jerry Rice, NFL player
• October 19 — Evander Holyfield, American heavyweight boxer
• October 30 — Courtney Walsh, cricketer
• October 31 — Hiroshi Yamamoto, Japanese archer
• November 1 — Sharron Davies, swimmer
• November 24 — Karen Marsden, Australian field hockey goalkeeper
• November 30 — Bong-Soo Kim, South Korean tennis player
• December 12 — Tracy Austin, American tennis player
• December 13 — Kendra Slawinski, English netballer
• December 24 — Juan Hernández, Cuban boxer
• December 27 — Mark Few, American college basketball coach

Deaths

• April 14 — Iuliu Baratky, Romanian football player (b. 1910)
• June 28 — Mickey Cochrane, Major League Baseball player