1981 in sports

See also: 1980 in sports, other events of 1981, 1982 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Table of contents

1 Auto Racing 2 Baseball 3 Basketball 4 Boxing 5 Cycling 6 Figure Skating 7 Football (Soccer) 8 Football (American) 9 Canadian Football League 10 Golf 11 Thoroughbred Horse Racing 12 Harness Racing 13 Ice Hockey 14 Skiing 15 Tennis 16 General sporting events 17 Births 18 Deaths

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Richard Petty wins the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Darrell Waltrip
• Indianapolis 500 - Bobby Unser
• CART Racing - Rick Mears won the season championship
• Formula One Championship - Nelson Piquet of Brazil
• 24 hours of Le Mans:
  • teammates Jacky Ickx / Derek Bell won, driving a Porsche 936
• Rally racing - 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

Baseball

• 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 Basketball Championship:
  • Indiana wins 63-50 over North Carolina

• NBA Finals:
  • Boston Celtics won 4 games to 2 over the Houston Rockets

Boxing

• August 21: Salvador Sanchez defeats Wilfredo Gomez by knockout in round eight to retain boxing's WBC world Featherweight title.(see: Salvador Sanchez vs. Wilfredo Gomez)

• September 16: Sugar Ray Leonard defeats Thomas Hearns by knockout in round 14 to unify boxing's world Welterweight title.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Giovanni Battaglin of Italy
• Tour de France - Bernard Hinault of France
• 1981 - Freddy Maertens, (Belgium)

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Scott Hamilton, United States
  • Women's champion: Denise Biellmann, Switzerland
  • Pairs champions: Irina Worobjewa & Igor Lisowski, Soviet Union

Football (Soccer)

• Champions' Cup: Liverpool F.C 1-0 Real Madrid C.F
• UEFA Cup: Two legs. 1st leg Ipswich Town F.C 3-0 AZ '67 (Alkmaar); 2nd leg AZ '67 4-2 Ipswich Town. Ipswich Town won 7-2 on aggregate
• Cup Winners' Cup: Dynamo Tbilisi 2-1 Carl Zeiss Jena
• League champions
  • Argentina: Boca Juniors
  • Brazil: Grêmio
  • France: Saint-Etienne
  • England: Aston Villa F.C
  • Italy: Juventus
  • Netherlands: Ajax Amsterdam
  • Portugal: Benfica
  • Scotland: Glasgow Celtic F.C
  • Spain: Real Sociedad
  • West Germany: FC Bayern München
• England - FA Cup: Tottenham Hotspur won 3-2 over Manchester City

Football (American)

• Super Bowl XV: Oakland Raiders won 27-10 over the Philadelphia Eagles

Canadian Football League

• Grey Cup: Edmonton Eskimos won 26-23 over the Ottawa Rough Riders
• Vanier Cup: Acadia Axmen won 18-12 over the Alberta Golden Bears

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Tom Watson
  2. June - US Open - David Graham
  3. July - British Open - Bill Rogers
  4. August - PGA Championship - Larry Nelson

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Tom Kite - $375,699
• PGA Champions Tour leading money winner: Miller Barber - $83,136
• Ryder Cup: United States won 18 1/2 to 9 1/2 over Europe in world team golf.

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Pat Bradley
• LPGA Championship - Donna Caponi
• Beth Daniel:leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $206,977.

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• August 30 - John Henry becomes the first horse to win a million dollar race, the Inaugural Arlington Million, at Arlington Park, in Chicago, Illinois.

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Just a Dash
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Fiddle Dancer Boy
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Gold River
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Shergar

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - To-Agori-Mou
  2. Epsom Derby - Shergar
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Cut Above

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Pleasant Colony
  2. Preakness Stakes - Pleasant Colony
  3. Belmont Stakes - Summing

Harness Racing

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Wildwood Jeb
  2. Little Brown Jug - Fan Hanover (Filly)
  3. Messenger Stakes - Seahawk Hanover

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Shiaway St. Pat
  2. Yonkers Trot
  3. Kentucky Futurity

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: San Simeon

Ice Hockey

• 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
  • Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Sweden
  • Junior Men's champion: Sweden defeated Finland

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Phil Mahre, USA
  • The women's overall season champion: Marie-Therese Nadig, Switzerland

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Johan Kriek
  2. French Open - Bjorn Borg
  3. Wimbledon championships - John McEnroe
  4. US Open - John McEnroe

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Martina Navratilova
  2. French Open - Hana Mandlikova
  3. Wimbledon championships - Chris Evert
  4. US Open - Tracy Austin

• Davis Cup: United States wins 3-1 over Argentina in world tennis.

General sporting events

• Embassy World Snooker Championship:
  • Steve Davis won 18-12 over Doug Mounjoy

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Rick Swenson won with lead dogs: Andy & Slick

Births

• February 18 - Andrei Kirilenko, Russian NBA star
• February 24 - Lleyton Hewitt, Australian tennis star
• August 8 - Roger Federer, Swiss tennis star
• September 26 - Serena Williams, American tennis star

Deaths

• August 17 - 33-year-old Russian ice hockey superstar, Valery Kharlamov dies in an automobile accident.