See also: 1956 in sports, other events of 1957, 1958 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Auto Racing

• NASCAR Championship - Buck Baker
• Indianapolis 500 - Sam Hanks
• USAC Racing - Jimmy Bryan won the season championship
• Formula One Championship - Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina
• 24 hours of Le Mans:
  • the team of Ron Flockhart / Ivor Bueb won, driving a Jaguar D-Type
• Rally racing:
  • the team of Erik Carlsson / Mario Pavoni won the Finland Car Rally driving a Saab 93
• Drag racing - George Dahir won the AHRA "Top Fuel" championship at the Nationals

Baseball

• January 5 - Jackie Robinson retires rather than move across town from the Dodgers to the Giants, to whom he had been traded in December.
• Roy Sievers lead American league with 42 home runs and 114 RBIs, for the last place Washington Senators.
• Cy Young Award: Warren Spahn, Milwaukee Braves
• World Series: Milwaukee Braves defeat New York Yankees four games to three.
• August 19- Horace Stoneham announces that the Giants are moving from New York to San Francisco, California.
• October 8 - Walter O'Malley announces that the Dodgers are going to move from Brooklyn, New York to Los Angeles, California.
• The Winnipeg Goldeyes win the Northern League championship.

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship:
  • North Carolina wins 54-53 over Kansas
• NBA Finals:
  • Boston Celtics won 4 games to 3 over the St. Louis Hawks

Boxing

• September 23 - Carmen Basilio won the World Middleweight Championship by a 15 round decision over Sugar Ray Robinson.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Gastone Nencini of Italy
• Tour de France - Jacques Anquetil of France
• World Cycling Championship: Rik Van Steenbergen of Belgium

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: David Jenkins , United States
  • Women's champion: Carol Heiss, United States
  • Pairs champions: Barbara Wagner and Robert Paul , Canada

Football (American)

• NFL Championship: Detroit Lions won 59-14 over the Cleveland Browns

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Melbourne wins the 61st VFL Premiership (Melbourne 17.14 (116) d Essendon 7.13 (55))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Brian Gleeson (St Kilda)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Hamilton Tiger-Cats won 32-7 over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Aston Villa won 2-1 over Manchester United

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Doug Ford
  2. June - US Open - Dick Mayer
  3. July - British Open - Bobby Locke
  4. August - PGA Championship - Lionel Hebert

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Dick Mayer - $65,835
• Ryder Cup: Britain wins 7 1/2 to 4 1/2 over the United States in world team golf.

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Betsy Rawls
• LPGA Championship - Louise Suggs
• Patty Berg: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $16,272.

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Straight Draw
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Lyford Cay
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Oroso
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Ballymoss

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Crepello
  2. Epsom Derby - Crepello
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Ballymoss

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Iron Liege
  2. Preakness Stakes - Bold Ruler
  3. Belmont Stakes - Gallant Man

Harness Racing

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Torpid
  2. Little Brown Jug - Torpid
  3. Messenger Stakes - Meadow Lands

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Hickory Smoke
  2. Yonkers Trot
  3. Kentucky Futurity

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Radiant Venture

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: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings

• Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 1 over the Boston Bruins

• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Sweden defeated the Soviet Union

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: John Pulman beats Jackie Rea 39-34

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Ashley Cooper
  2. French Open - Sven Davidson
  3. Wimbledon championships - Lew Hoad
  4. US Open - Malcolm Anderson

• American Althea Gibson became the first black player to win a Wimbledon singles championship.
• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Shirley Fry
  2. French Open - Shirley Bloomer
  3. Wimbledon championships - Althea Gibson
  4. US Open - Althea Gibson

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

General sporting events

Births

• January 6 - Nancy Lopez, golfer
• January 22 - Mike Bossy, ice hockey player
• April 9 - Seve Ballesteros, golfer
• May 7 - Sinjin Smith , volleyball player
• July 29 - Nelli Kim, gymnast
• August 27 - Bernhard Langer, golfer

Deaths

• May - Len Eshmont - football player with San Francisco 49ers
• July 3 - Dolf Luque , Major League Baseball player (1914-1935)