See also: 1949 in sports, other events of 1950, 1951 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Auto Racing

• NASCAR Championship - Bill Rexford
• AAA Racing:
  • Henry Banks won the series championship
  • Johnnie Parsons won the Indianapolis 500
• Formula One Champion: The first World Championship for drivers under the jurisdiction of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) is contested. The first race of the World Championship series is the British Grand Prix won by Giuseppe Farina, driving an Alfa Romeo. Farina would go on to become the first FIA World Champion.
• 24 hours of Le Mans - Louis Rosier/Jean-Louis Rosier driving a Talbot-Lago
• Rally racing:
  • M. Becquart /H. Secret won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Hotchkiss
• Drag racing - June 19: The first commercial drag strip, the Santa Ana Drags, begins at Orange County Airport (now John Wayne Airport) in Santa Ana, in Southern California. Admission is 50 cents -- or 75 cents if the ticket holder wanted to watch the mechanics work.

Baseball

• World Series: New York Yankees win 4 games to 0 over the Philadelphia Phillies

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • CCNY wins 71-68 over Bradley

• NBA Finals:
  • Minneapolis Lakers win 4 games to 2 or the Syracuse Nationals

Boxing

• January in London, Joey Maxim won the light-heavyweight world title, stopping champion Freddie Mills in 10 rounds.

• September 27 - Ezzard Charles retains his World Heavyweight Championship with a 15 round unanimous decision over Joe Louis in New York City.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia - Hugo Koblet of Switzerland
• Tour de France - Ferdinand Kubler of Switzerland
• Vuelta a Espana – Emilio Rodriguez of Spain
• World Cycling Championship - Briek Schotte of Belgium

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Dick Button, United States
  • Women's champion: Alena Vrzanova , Czechoslovakia
  • Pairs champions: Karol Kennedy & Peter Kennedy , United States

Football (American)

• NFL Championship: Cleveland Browns win 30-28 over the Los Angeles Rams

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Essendon wins the 54th VFL Premiership (Essendon 13.14 (92) d North Melbourne 7.12 (54))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Alan Ruthven (Fitzroy)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Toronto Argonauts win 13-0 over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Football (Soccer)

• Uruguay wins Football World Cup in Brazil
• England - FA Cup: Arsenal wins 2-0 over Liverpool

Golf

• Men's Golf
  • Grand Slam of golf results:
    1. May - The Masters - Jimmy Demaret
    2. June - US Open - Ben Hogan
    3. July - British Open - Bobby Locke
    4. August - PGA Championship - Chandler Harper

• • PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Sam Snead - $35,759

• Women's Golf
  • Babe Zaharias named Woman Athlete of the Half-Century by the Associated Press.
  • US Women's Open - Babe Zaharias
  • Thirteen women golfers found the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA).

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• The United States National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in Saratoga Springs, New York.

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Comic Court
• Canada - Queen's Plate - McGill
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Tantième
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Dark Warrior

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Palestine
  2. Epsom Derby - Galcador
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Talma

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Middleground
  2. Preakness Stakes - Hill Prince
  3. Belmont Stakes - Middleground

Harness Racing

• Little Brown Jug for pacers - Dudley Hanover
• Hambletonian for trotters - Lusty Song

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Captain Sandy

Ice Hockey

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

• Hart Memorial Trophy: for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Charlie Rayner , New York Rangers

• Stanley Cup: Detroit Red Wings win 4 games to 3 over the New York Rangers

• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Canada's Edmonton Mercurys

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Walter Donaldson beats Fred Davis 51-46.

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Frank Sedgman
  2. French Open - Budge Patty
  3. Wimbledon championships - Budge Patty
  4. US Open - Arthur Larsen

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Louise Brough
  2. French Open - Doris Hart
  3. Wimbledon championships - Louise Brough
  4. US Open - Margaret Osborne duPont

• Davis Cup in world tennis: Australia won 4 to 1 over the United States

General sporting events

• British Empire Games held in Auckland

Births

• January 18 - Gilles Villeneuve, F1 race driver (+ 1982)
• February 22 - Julius Erving, Basketball Hall of Famer
• March 9 - Danny Sullivan, automobile racer
• May 7 – Randall 'Tex' Cobb , boxer, actor
• August 22 - Celia Breckenridge , British lacrosse player
• November 22 - Lyman Bostock, Major League Baseball player

Deaths

• April 16 - Arnaud Massy, champion golfer
• September 23 - Sam Barry, Hall of Fame basketball coach
• October 9 - George Hainsworth, NHL Hockey Hall of Fame, goaltender
• November 4 - Grover Cleveland Alexander, Major League Baseball pitcher (1911-1930)
• November 30 - Billy Burch , Hockey Hall of Fame player
• December 5 - Bill Dahlen , Major League Baseball player (1891-1911)