1981 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.
| Centuries: | 19th century · 20th century · 21st century |
| Decades: | 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s |
| Years: | 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 |
Alpine skiing
- Alpine Skiing World Cup –
- Men's overall season champion: Phil Mahre, USA
- Women's overall season champion: Marie-Theres Nadig, Switzerland
American football
- January 25 - Super Bowl XV – Oakland Raiders win 27-10 over the Philadelphia Eagles
- October 11 - LeRoy Irvin sets NFL record for most punt return yards in a game (207).
Artistic gymnastics
- World Artistic Gymnastics Championships –
- Men's all-around champion: Yuri Korolev, USSR
- Women's all-around champion: Olga Bicherova, USSR
- Men's team competition champion: USSR
- Women's team competition champion: USSR
Association football
- UEFA Champions League – Liverpool FC 1-0 Real Madrid
- UEFA Cup – two leg final: 1st leg Ipswich Town F.C. 3-0 AZ '67 (Alkmaar); 2nd leg AZ '67 4-2 Ipswich Town. Ipswich Town win 5-4 on aggregate
- Cup Winners' Cup – Dynamo Tbilisi 2-1 Carl Zeiss Jena
- Copa Libertadores de América – Flamengo 2-0 Cobreloa
- World Club Championship – Flamengo 3-0 Liverpool FC
- Aston Villa win English League Championship
- FA Cup – Tottenham Hotspur win 3-2 over Manchester City
Australian rules football
- Victorian Football League
- Carlton win the 85th VFL Premiership (Carlton 12.20 (92) d Collingwood 10.12 (72))
- Brownlow Medal awarded to Barry Round (South Melbourne) and Bernie Quinlan (Fitzroy)
- At the end of the season, South Melbourne relocate to Sydney and are renamed the Sydney Swans.
Baseball
- For a Venezuelans baseball player's strike the Caribbean World Series of this year is cancelled.
- January 15 - In his first year of eligibility, former Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson is the only player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Gibson won 20 games five times, struck out 3,117 batters, and captured the Cy Young Award and MVP in 1968 with a 1.12 ERA. Players falling short of the 301 votes needed for election include Don Drysdale (243), Gil Hodges (241), Harmon Killebrew (239), Hoyt Wilhelm (238), and Juan Marichal (233). All except Hodges would subsequently gain election.
- April 18 - An International League game between the Pawtucket Red Sox and the visiting Rochester Red Wings set the record for the most innings ever played in a single professional baseball game, at 33 innings (24 extra innings). The game was suspended after 32 innings on the morning of April 19, and was concluded on June 23 with a 3-2 Pawtucket victory.
- June 12 - Major League Baseball players begin a 49 day strike over the issue of free-agent compensation.
- World Series – Los Angeles Dodgers win 4 games to 2 over the New York Yankees. The Series MVP is a tie between Ron Cey, Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager, Los Angeles
Basketball
- NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship –
- Indiana wins 63-50 over North Carolina
- NBA Finals –
- Boston Celtics won 4 games to 2 over the Houston Rockets
- National Basketball League (Australia) Finals:
- Launceston Casino City defeated the Nunawading Spectres 75-54 in the final.
Boxing
- April 11 – Larry Holmes defeats Trevor Berbick by a unanimous decision to retain the WBC heavyweight title.
- August 21 – Salvador Sanchez defeats Wilfredo Gómez by knockout in round eight to retain boxing's WBC world Featherweight title.(see: The Battle of the Little Giants)
- September 16 – Sugar Ray Leonard defeats Thomas Hearns by knockout in round 14 to unify boxing's world Welterweight title.
- October 3 – Mike Weaver defeats James (Quick) Tillis by a unanimous decision to retain the WBA/World Boxing Association heavyweight title.
Canadian football
- Grey Cup – Edmonton Eskimos win 26-23 over the Ottawa Rough Riders
- Vanier Cup – Acadia Axemen win 18-12 over the Alberta Golden Bears
Cycling
- Giro d'Italia won by Giovanni Battaglin of Italy
- Tour de France - Bernard Hinault of France
Dogsled racing
- Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion –
- Rick Swenson won with lead dogs: Andy & Slick
Field hockey
- Men's World Cup held in Kuala Lumpur won by USSR
- Men's Champions Trophy held in Karachi won by the Netherlands
- Women's World Cup held in Buenos Aires won by West Germany
Figure skating
- World Figure Skating Championships –
- Men's champion: Scott Hamilton, United States
- Ladies' champion: Denise Biellmann, Switzerland
- Pair skating champions: Irina Vorobeva & Igor Lisovski, Soviet Union
- Ice dancing champions: Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean, Great Britain
Gaelic Athletic Association
- Camogie
- Gaelic football
- All-Ireland Senior Football Championship – Kerry 1-12 d. Offaly 0-8
- National Football League – Galway 1-11 d. Roscommon 1-3
- Ladies' Gaelic football
- Hurling
- All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship – Offaly 2-12 d. Galway 0-15
- National Hurling League – Cork 3-11 d. Offaly 2-8
Golf
Men's professional
- Masters Tournament - Tom Watson
- U.S. Open - David Graham
- British Open - Bill Rogers
- PGA Championship - Larry Nelson
- PGA Tour money leader - Tom Kite - $375,699
- Senior PGA Tour money leader - Miller Barber - $83,136
- Ryder Cup - United States win 18 1/2 to 9 1/2 over Europe in team golf.
Men's amateur
- British Amateur - Phillipe Ploujoux
- U.S. Amateur - Nathaniel Crosby
Women's professional
- LPGA Championship - Donna Caponi
- U.S. Women's Open - Pat Bradley
- Classique Peter Jackson Classic - Jan Stephenson
- LPGA Tour money leader - Beth Daniel - $206,998
Harness racing
- United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
- Cane Pace - Wildwood Jeb
- Little Brown Jug - Fan Hanover (Filly)
- Messenger Stakes - Seahawk Hanover
- United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
- Hambletonian - Shiaway St. Pat
- Yonkers Trot - Mo Bandy
- Kentucky Futurity - Filet of Sole
- Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
- Pacers: San Simeon
Horse racing
- August 30 – John Henry becomes the first horse to win a million dollar race, the inaugural Arlington Million, at Arlington Park in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois.
- November – inaugural running of the Japan Cup, the most prestigious horse race in Japan, at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo. Its distance is about 1½ miles on turf and it is the world's richest turf race.
Steeplechases
- Cheltenham Gold Cup – Little Owl
- Grand National – Aldaniti
Flat races
- Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Just a Dash
- Canada – Queen's Plate won by Fiddle Dancer Boy
- France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Gold River
- Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Shergar
- Japan – Japan Cup won by Mairzy Doates
- English Triple Crown Races:
- 2,000 Guineas Stakes – To–Agori–Mou
- Epsom Derby – Shergar
- St. Leger Stakes – Cut Above
- United States Triple Crown Races:
Ice hockey
- August 27 – death of
Valeri Kharlamov (33), Russian player, in a car crash - Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
- Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
- Stanley Cup - New York Islanders win 4 games to 1 over the Minnesota North Stars
- World Hockey Championship
Motor racing
- Stock car racing –
- CART Racing - Rick Mears won the season championship
- Formula One Champion - Nelson Piquet of Brazil
- 24 hours of Le Mans –
- teammates Jacky Ickx / Derek Bell won, driving a Porsche 936
- Rally racing - Ari Vatanen in a Ford won the World Rally Championship
- the team of Jean Ragnotti / Jean-Marc Andrie won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Renault 5 Turbo
- Drag racing – Gary Beck won "Top Fuel" at the NHRA World Finals
Rugby union
- The 1981 Springbok Tour caused major controversy and riots in New Zealand.
Snooker
- World Snooker Championship – Steve Davis beats Doug Mountjoy 18-12
- World rankings – Cliff Thorburn becomes world number one for 1981/82
Swimming
- August 15 – USA's Robin Leamy of UCLA sets a world record time of 22.54 in the 50m freestyle (long course) at Brown Deer, Wisconsin, shaving 0.17 off the previous record (22.71) set by Joseph Bottom exactly one year ago in Honolulu, Hawaii
Tennis
- Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
- Australian Open - Johan Kriek
- French Open - Björn Borg
- Wimbledon championships - John McEnroe
- US Open - John McEnroe
- Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
- Davis Cup – United States wins 3-1 over Argentina in world tennis.
Volleyball
- European Volleyball Championships held in Bulgaria and won by USSR (men) and Bulgaria (women)
Water polo
- 1981 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup in Long Beach, California won by USSR
- 1981 FINA Women's Water Polo World Cup in Brisbane, Australia won by Canada
Multi-sport events
- First World Games held in Santa Clara, United States
- Eleventh Summer Universiade held in Bucharest, Romania
- Tenth Winter Universiade held in Jaca, Spain
Awards
- Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – John McEnroe, Tennis
- Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Tracy Austin, Tennis
References
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