FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 8th FIS Alpine World Ski Championships are held at Engelberg, Switzerland. The events are a downhill, a slalom and a combined race in both the men's and women's categories. The winners are:
Men's Downhill – James Couttet (France)
Men's Slalom – Rudolf Rominger (Switzerland)
Men's Combined – Emile Allais (France)
Women's Downhill – Lisa Resch (Germany)
Women's Slalom – Christl Cranz (Germany)
Women's Combined – Christl Cranz (Germany)
New York Giants 23–17 Green Bay Packers for the NFL title.
First High School Oil Bowl is played.
World Cup
1938 World Cup held in France – Italy retain their title, beating Hungary 4-2 in the final.
England
First Division – Arsenal win the 1937–38 title
FA Cup – Preston North End beat Huddersfield Town 1-0
Spain
La Liga – not contested due to the Spanish Civil War
Germany
German football championship won by Hannover 96
Italy
Serie A won by Ambrosiana-Inter
Portugal
Primeira Liga won by S.L. Benfica
France
French Division 1 won by Sochaux-Montbéliard
March 3 – Glenn Cunningham breaks the world record for the indoor mile run by completing the distance in 4 minutes, 4.4 seconds.
September 4 – European Championships Marathon at Paris is won by Väinö Muinonen (Finland) in a time of 2:37:29
The Victorian Football Association legalized throwing the ball in general play, establishing its own code of Australian rules football which was distinct from the national code administered by the Australian National Football Council. It was the beginning of a decade-long schism which ran from 1938 until 1949.
Victorian Football League
24 September – Carlton wins the 42nd VFL Premiership, defeating Collingwood 15.10 (100) to 13.7 (85) in the 1938 VFL Grand Final
Brownlow Medal awarded to Dick Reynolds (Essendon)
South Australian National Football League
1 October – South Adelaide 23.14 (152) defeat Port Adelaide 15.16 (106) in the 1938 SANFL Grand Final
Magarey Medal won by Bob Quinn (Port Adelaide)
Western Australian National Football League
15 October – Claremont 15.11 (101) defeat East Fremantle 11.13 (79) to win their first WANFL premiership in the Grand Final Replay, after the Tigers had scored 13.16 (94) to Old Easts’ 14.10 (94) in the first Grand Final on 8 October.
Sandover Medal won by Haydn Bunton, Sr. (Subiaco)
World Series – New York Yankees defeat the Chicago Cubs, 4–0.
Hall of Fame election – Continuing toward the goal of 10 initial inductees at the 1939 opening of the Hall, voters select Grover Cleveland Alexander. A special committee selects organizer Alexander Cartwright and promoter Henry Chadwick; selections of 19th century players are again postponed.
Starting pitcher Johnny Vander Meer (Cincinnati Reds) throws back–to–back no-hitters, meaning they came in two consecutive starts, something not accomplished before or since.
March 1 – Nankai Hawks, officially founded in Japanese Baseball League, as predecessor of Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
NBL Championship
Akron Goodyear Wingfoots win two games to one over the Oshkosh All-Stars
Events
The sixth South American Basketball Championship in Lima is won by Peru.
Events
American boxer Henry Armstrong simultaneously holds the welterweight, lightweight, and featherweight world titles.
Lineal world champions
World Heavyweight Championship – Joe Louis
World Light Heavyweight Championship – John Henry Lewis
World Middleweight Championship – vacant
World Welterweight Championship – Barney Ross → Henry Armstrong
World Lightweight Championship – Lou Ambers → Henry Armstrong
World Featherweight Championship – Henry Armstrong → vacant
World Bantamweight Championship – Harry Jeffra → Sixto Escobar
World Flyweight Championship – Benny Lynch → vacant → Peter Kane
February – British Empire Games held in Sydney
Events
24 August – England defeat Australia by an innings and 579 runs, the biggest winning margin in Test cricket history.
England
County Championship – won by Yorkshire
Minor Counties Championship – won by Buckinghamshire
Most runs – Wally Hammond 3,011 @ 75.27 (HS 271)
Most wickets – Arthur Wellard 172 @ 20.29 (BB 7–59)
England and Australia tie one Test each with two draws
Wisden Cricketers of the Year – Hugh Bartlett, Bill Brown, Denis Compton, Kenneth Farnes, Arthur Wood
Australia
Sheffield Shield won by New South Wales
Most runs – Don Bradman 1,437 @ 89.81 (HS 246)
Most wickets
Bill O‘Reilly 64 @ 12.25 (BB 9-41)
Chuck Fleetwood-Smith 64 @ 22.43 (BB 9-135)
India
Bombay Pentangular – Muslims
Ranji Trophy – Hyderabad beat Nawanagar by one wicket
South Africa
Currie Cup – won by Transvaal and Natal (shared)
New Zealand
Plunket Shield – won by Auckland
West Indies
Inter-Colonial Tournament – won by British Guiana
Tour de France
Gino Bartali wins the 32nd Tour de France
Giro d'Italia
Giovanni Valetti of Fréjus wins the 26th Giro d'Italia
World Figure Skating Championships –
Men's champion: Felix Kaspar, Austria
Ladies' champion: Megan Taylor, Great Britain
Pair skating champion: Maxi Herber & Ernst Baier, Germany
Men's professional
Masters Tournament – Henry Picard
U.S. Open – Ralph Guldahl
British Open – Reg Whitcombe
PGA Championship – Paul Runyan
Men's amateur
British Amateur – Charlie Yates
U.S. Amateur – Willie Turnesa
Women's professional
Women's Western Open – Bea Barrett
Titleholders Championship – Patty Berg
In what is billed as the “Match of the Century”, Seabiscuit defeats the US Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing champion, War Admiral.
Steeplechases
Cheltenham Gold Cup – Morse Code
Grand National – Battleship
Hurdle races
Champion Hurdle – Our Hope
Flat races
Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Catalogue
Canada – Queen's Plate won by Bunty Lawless
France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Eclair au Chocolat
Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Rosewell
English Triple Crown Races:
- 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Pasch
- Epsom Derby – Bois Roussel
- St. Leger Stakes – Scottish Union
United States Triple Crown Races:
- Kentucky Derby – Lawrin
- Preakness Stakes – War Admiral
- Belmont Stakes – War Admiral
Chicago Blackhawks defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs three games to one in the Stanley Cup final series.
Grand Prix – Rudolf Caracciola is European Champion for a record third time.
27 August – at Bonneville, G. E. T. Eyston in Thunderbolt breaks his own land speed record for the flying mile, setting the new mark at 345.48 mph (556.00 km/h).
15 September – at Bonneville, John R. Cobb in the Railton Special breaks Eyston's record for the flying mile, setting the new mark at 350.19 mph (563.58 km/h).
16 September – at Bonneville, Eyston responds, setting the new mark at 357.49 mph (575.32 km/h). Cobb will respond in August 1939.
FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
11th FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1938 are held at Lahti, Finland
The Boat Race
2 April — Oxford wins the 90th Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race
1938 European Rugby League Championship / 1938–39 European Rugby League Championship
1938 New Zealand rugby league season
1938 NSWRFL season
1937–38 Northern Rugby Football League season / 1938–39 Northern Rugby Football League season
51st Home Nations Championship series is won by Scotland
The Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway, the first aerial tramway in the United States, opens at Cannon Mountain Ski Area.
World Snooker Championship – Joe Davis beats Sidney Smith 37–24
Speed Skating World Championships
Men's All-round Champion – Ivar Ballangrud (Norway)
Women's All-round Champion – Laila Schou Nilsen (Norway)
Australia
Australian Men's Singles Championship – Don Budge (USA) defeats John Bromwich (Australia) 6–4, 6–2, 6–1
Australian Women's Singles Championship – Dorothy Cheney (USA) defeats Dorothy Stevenson (Australia) 6–3, 6–2
England
Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – Don Budge (USA) defeats Bunny Austin (Great Britain) 6–1, 6–0, 6–3
Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – Helen Wills Moody (USA) defeats Helen Jacobs (USA) 6–4, 6–0
France
French Men's Singles Championship – Don Budge (USA) defeats Roderich Menzel (Czechoslovakia) 6–3, 6–2, 6–4
French Women's Singles Championship – Simonne Mathieu (France) defeats Nelly Adamson Landry (France) 6–0, 6–3
USA
American Men's Singles Championship – Don Budge (USA) defeats Gene Mako (USA) 6–3, 6–8, 6–2, 6–1
American Women's Singles Championship – Alice Marble (USA) defeats Nancye Wynne Bolton (Australia) 6–0, 6–3
Events
Don Budge becomes the first male tennis player to complete the Grand Slam in tennis of all 4 Championships.
Davis Cup
1938 International Lawn Tennis Challenge – United States 3–2 Australia at Germantown Cricket Club (grass) Philadelphia, United States
Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Don Budge, Tennis
Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Patty Berg, LPGA golf
