The Glory Days
Sports in the 1920s
Sports
Baseball
America's pastime was the beloved game of baseball throughout the 1920s. The most popular athletes in this sport were Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe Dimaggio.
Football
Football was not quite as popular as it is today, but college football was rising up to speed. It was a widely watched event with great athletes such as Red Grange. Because of the growing popularity of football, the American Professional Football Association was founded in 1920 by Jim Thorpe.
Tennis
This sport was extremely popular during the this time. Since then the hype has mildly decreased, and football and baseball has rose to even greater heights. The most popular figures in this area of sports were Bill Tilden and Helen Wills.
Golf
The popularity of golf has also decreased like tennis, but Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen were worshiped in this extremely skillful sport.
Popular Athletes
Babe Ruth
Babe started out playing for the Red Sox in 1914 and was sold to the Yankees in 1920. He had 714 home runs total in his lifetime with a .342 batting average from 22 seasons of playing. Babe was respected as an icon of American baseball and remains the same today.
Jack Dempsey
He was titled the heavyweight champion and claimed this title 6 times in 7 years. However, September 23, 1926, Dempsey was defeated by Gene Tunney. He lost again in the rematch in '27. Although, Dempsey was beaten by Tunney, he was still held high in all of America's hearts.
Bill Tilden
He was the first American to ever compete at Wimbledon and the first American to win. Tilden was referred to as "Big Bill" or "Gentleman Bill". Big Bill was like the Babe Ruth of Tennis in the '20s.
Gertrude Ederle
She is one of the most famous females in sports. August 6, 1926, Ederle swam across the English channel in 14 hours and 34 minutes. She was the first woman to ever accomplish this vigorous swim. She beat the men's world record by over an hour.
Summary of Sports in the 1920s
Activities
Water skiing first started in the 1920s and became popular fairly quickly. It was just an activity people did for fun; it was not considered as a sport. Also, fencing was referred to as an activity. It was newly introduced to women in 1929. Table tennis was expanding it's popularity and quickly became sponsered as an organization. Many enjoyed watching a nice game of polo and participating in track. Some people were very well respected in these events. Also, activities that everyday people did were board games, dancing, and going to the beach.
Works Cited
Boland, Jesse. "1920s Sports: A Golden Age of Competition." 1920s Fashion and Music. N.p., 2015. Web. 8 Mar. 2015.
Modras, Megan, and Jolie Mills. "Leisure Activities." Culture of the 1920s. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2015.
Rich. "Famous Athletes of the 1920s." Sports & Society of the 1920s. N.p., 14 Mar. 2011. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.
"Sports." The 1920's. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.