1981
Recap of the year 1981 in sports.
[edit] 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
[edit] Auto 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
[edit] 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.
- 1981 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
- See also 1981 in baseball.
[edit] Basketball
- 1981 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament:
- Indiana wins 63-50 over North Carolina
- NBA Finals:
- Boston Celtics won 4 games to 2 over the Houston Rockets
[edit] Boxing
- April 11: Larry Holmes defeats Trevor Berbick by a unanimous decision to retain the WBC heavyweight title.
- 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.
- october 3: Mike Weaver defeats James (Quick) Tillis by a unanimous decisin to retain the WBA/World Boxing Association heavyweight title.
[edit] Cycling
- Giro d'Italia won by Giovanni Battaglin of Italy
- Tour de France - Bernard Hinault of France
- 1981 - Freddy Maertens, (Belgium)
[edit] Dogsled racing
- Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
- Rick Swenson won with lead dogs: Andy & Slick
[edit] Field Hockey
- Men's World Cup Qualifier Tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Gold Medal: Soviet Union
- Silver Medal: Malaysia
- Bronze Medal: New Zealand
- Men's Champions Trophy in Karachi, Pakistan
- Gold Medal: The Netherlands
- Silver Medal: Australia
- Bronze Medal: West Germany
- Women's World Cup in Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Gold Medal: West Germany
- Silver Medal: The Netherlands
- Bronze Medal: Soviet Union
- March 21 - In an international women's field hockey match at Wembley Stadium, England. England beat Wales 2-1.
[edit] 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
- Ice Dance champions: Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean (Great Britain)
[edit] Football (American)
- January 25 - Super Bowl XV: Oakland Raiders won 27-10 over the Philadelphia Eagles
[edit] Football (Australian Rules)
- Victorian Football League
- Richmond wins the 85th VFL Premiership (Richmond 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 relocates to Sydney and is renamed the Sydney Swans.
[edit] Football (Canadian)
- Grey Cup: Edmonton Eskimos won 26-23 over the Ottawa Rough Riders
- Vanier Cup: Acadia Axemen won 18-12 over the Alberta Golden Bears
[edit] Football (Soccer)
- UEFA Champions League: Liverpool 1-0 Real Madrid
- 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-Étienne
- England: Aston Villa
- Italy: Juventus
- Netherlands: Ajax
- Portugal: Benfica
- Scotland: Celtic
- Spain: Real Sociedad
- West Germany: Bayern Munich
- England - FA Cup: Tottenham Hotspur won 3-2 over Manchester City
[edit] Gaelic Athletic Association
- Gaelic football
- All-Ireland Senior Football Championship: Kerry 1-12 d. Offaly 0-8
- National Football League: Galway 1-11 d. Roscommon 1-3
- Hurling
- All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship: Offaly 2-12 d. Galway 0-15
- National Hurling League: Cork 3-11 d. Offaly 2-8
[edit] Golf
- Major championship results:
- April - The Masters - Tom Watson
- June - US Open - David Graham
- July - British Open - Bill Rogers
- August - PGA Championship - Larry Nelson
- PGA Tour leading money winner for the year: Tom Kite - $375,699
- 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.
- US Women's Open - Pat Bradley
- LPGA Championship - Donna Caponi
- Beth Daniel:leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $206,977.
[edit] 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 the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, 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
[edit] Harness Racing
[edit] 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
[edit] Rugby union
- The 1981 Springbok Tour caused major controversy and riots in New Zealand.
[edit] Skiing
- Alpine Skiing
- The men's overall season champion: Phil Mahre, USA
- The women's overall season champion: Marie-Theres Nadig, Switzerland
[edit] Snooker
- World Snooker Championship: Steve Davis beats Doug Mountjoy 18-12
- World rankings: Cliff Thorburn becomes world number one for 1981/82
[edit] Tennis
- Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
- Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
- Davis Cup: United States wins 3-1 over Argentina in world tennis.
[edit] General sporting events
- First World Games held in Santa Clara, United States
- Eleventh Summer Universiade held in Bucharest, Romania
- Tenth Winter Universiade held in Jaca, Spain
[edit] Births
[edit] January
- January 2 — Maximiliano Rodriguez, Argentinian football player
- January 9 — Erik Vendt, US swimmer
- January 11 — Jonathan Mandick, Canadian rower
- January 15 — El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese football player
- January 15 — Graham Moodie, Scottish field hockey player
- January 18 — Olivier Rochus, Belgian tennis player
- January 27 — Alicia Molik, Australian tennis player
[edit] February
- February 1 — Angie Skirving, Australian field hockey player
- February 2 — Dmitry Lobkov, Russian speed skater
- February 6 — Niall Stott, Scottish field hockey player
- February 10 — Fränzi Aufdenblatten, Swiss alpine skier
- February 18 — Andrei Kirilenko, Russian NBA player
- February 19 — Thomas Buffel, Belgian football player
- February 19 — Tina Pisnik, Slovenian tennis player
- February 19 — Andreas Vinciguerra, Swedish tennis player
- February 24 — Lleyton Hewitt, Australian tennis player
- February 24 — Mauro Rosales, Argentinian football player
- February 25 — Ulrich Bubolz, German field hockey goalkeeper
- February 25 — Marek Plawgo, Polish athlete
[edit] March
- March 10 — Samuel Eto'o, Cameroon football player
- March 12 — Katarina Srebotnik, Slovenian tennis player
- March 15 — Brice Guyart, French foil fencer
- March 16 — Andrew Bree, Irish breaststroke swimmer
- March 20 — Tibor Weißenborn, German field hockey player
- March 30 — Tulashboy Doniyorov, Uzbek boxer
- March 31 — Lourdes Dominguez Lino, Spanish tennis player
- March 31 — Maarten van der Weijden, Dutch long distance swimmer
[edit] April
- April 3 — Heath Ramsay, Australian butterfly swimmer
- April 4 — Lucas Cammareri, Argentine field hockey forward
- April 5 — Pieter Weening, Dutch cyclist
- April 21 — Kim Lammers, Dutch field hockey player
- April 23 — Jenny McDonough, Irish field hockey forward
- April 24 — Taylor Dent, US tennis player
[edit] May
- May 1 — Alexander Hleb, Belarussian Soccer Player
- May 6 — Robert Hammond, Australian field hockey midfielder
- May 10 — Lloyd Stephenson, New Zealand field hockey player
- May 10 — Ignace Tirkey, Indian field hockey player
- May 11 — Lauren Jackson, Australian basketball player
- May 13 — Jean-Philippe Brulé, Belgian field hockey player
- May 19 — Klaas-Erik Zwering, Dutch swimmer
- May 20 — Daniel McPherson, Australian field hockey goalkeeper
- May 21 — Rob Moore, English field hockey midfielder and foward
- May 21 — Anna Rogowska, Polish track and field athlete
- May 22 — Jürgen Melzer, Austrian tennis player
- May 26 — Anthony Ervin, American swimmer
[edit] June
- June 2 — Nikolay Davydenko, Russian tennis player
- June 7 — Anna Kournikova, Russian tennis player
- June 9 — Dean Couzins, New Zealand field hockey player
- June 9 — Irakli Labadze, Georgian tennis player
- June 9 — Bastiaan Tamminga, Dutch swimmer
- June 13 — Wieteke Cramer, Dutch speed skater
- June 14 — Hope Munro, Australian field hockey player
- June 25 — Simon Ammann, Swiss ski jumper
[edit] July
- July 2 — Zurab Zviadauri, Georgian judoka
- July 7 — Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Indian cricketer
- July 8 — Anastasia Myskina, Russian tennis player
- July 9 — Rutger Smith, Dutch athlete
- July 14 — Matti Hautamäki, Finnish ski jumper
- July 16 — Vicente Rodríguez, Spanish football player
- July 21 — Joaquín Sánchez, Spanish football player
- July 23 — Dmitriy Karpov, Kazakhstani athlete
- July 23 — Jarkko Nieminen, Finnish tennis player
- July 29 — Fernando Alonso, Spanish Formula 1-driver
[edit] August
- August 5 — Jim Piper, Australian breaststroke swimmer
- August 8 — Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player
- August 9 — Li Jiawei, Singaporean table tennis player
- August 10 — Guillaume Elmont, Dutch judoka
- August 12 — Djibril Cissé, French football player
- August 15 — Brendan Hansen, American swimmer
- August 21 — David Guest, Australian field hockey player
- August 29 — Rob Reckers, Dutch field hockey player
- August 31 — Örn Arnarson, Icelandic swimmer
[edit] September
- September 6 — Brandon Simpson, Jamaican athlete
- September 12 — Sabina Wojtala, Polish figure skater
- September 16 — Sebastian Biederlack, German field hockey midfielder
- September 18 — Helen Richardson, British field hockey player
- September 19 — Damiano Cunego, Italian cyclist
- September 20 — Feliciano Lopez, Spanish tennis player
- September 23 — Robert Doornbos, Dutch Formula 1-driver
- September 26 — Serena Williams, US tennis player
- September 26 — Klaas Veering, Dutch field hockey player
[edit] October
- October 3 — Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Swedish football (soccer) player
- October 5 — Enrico Fabris, Italian long track speed skater
- October 5 — Juan Camilo Novoa, Colombian boxer
- October 11 — Kate Hector, South African field hockey player
- October 12 — Sun Tiantian, Chinese tennis player
- October 15 — Elena Dementieva, Russian tennis player
- October 15 — Guo Jingjing, Chinese diver
- October 19 — Sarah Taylor, Australian field hockey player
- October 20 — Elka Graham, Australian swimmer
- October 20 — Stefan Nystrand, Swedish swimmer
- October 22 — Clementine Stoney, Australian backstroke swimmer
- October 23 — Rodrigo Vila, Argentine field hockey striker
- October 28 — Milan Baroš, Czech football (soccer) player
- October 29 — Amanda Beard, American swimmer
[edit] November
- November 2 — Tatiana Totmianina, Russian figure skater
- November 6 — Sylwia Gruchała, Polish fencer
- November 7 — Nicole Arrold, Australian field hockey player
- November 21 — Werknesh Kidane, Ethiopian long distance track and field athlete
- November 25 — Xabi Alonso, Spanish football (soccer) player
- November 30 — Steffen Driesen, German backstroke swimmer
[edit] December
- December 7 — Frédérique Ankoné, Dutch speed skater
- December 9 — Mardy Fish, American professional tennis player
- December 10 — Liam De Young, Australian field hockey player
- December 11 — Javier Saviola, Argentinian football (soccer) player
- December 12 — Yuvraj Singh, Indian cricketer
- December 14 — Émilie Heymans, Belgium-born Canadian diver
- December 15 — Hossam Ghaly, Egyptian football player
- December 17 — Miek van Geenhuizen, Dutch field hockey player
- December 18 — Bekzod Khidirov, Uzbek boxer
- December 19 — Najai Turpin, American boxer (d. 2005)
- December 28 — Khalid Boulahrouz, Dutch football (soccer) player
- December 28 — Mika Väyrynen, Finnish football (soccer) player
[edit] Deaths
- Canonero II - champion thoroughbred race horse
- August 27 - Valery Kharlamov, 33, Russian ice hockey player
- October 3 - Fidel La Barba, US boxer and sportswriter (b. 1905)
