1981 in sports

Encyclopedia : 1 : 19 : 198 : 1981 in sports

Contents

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

Stock car racing:
NASCAR Championship - Darrell Waltrip
Richard Petty won the Daytona 500
CART Racing - Rick Mears won the season championship
May 25 - Indianapolis 500 - Bobby Unser
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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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)

January 25 - Super Bowl XV: Oakland Raiders won 27-10 over the Philadelphia Eagles

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.

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

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

Camogie
All-Ireland Camogie Champion: Kilkenny
National Camogie League: Dublin

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
All-Ireland Senior Football Champion: 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

Men's 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.
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.

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

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

United States Triple Crown Races:
#Kentucky Derby - Pleasant Colony
#Preakness Stakes - Pleasant Colony
#Belmont Stakes - Summing

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

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

The 1981 Springbok Tour caused major controversy and riots in New Zealand.

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

World Snooker Championship: Steve Davis beats Doug Mountjoy 18-12
World rankings: Cliff Thorburn becomes world number one for 1981/82

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:
#Australian Open - Martina Navratilova
#French Open - Hana Mandlikova
#Wimbledon championships - Chris Evert
#US Open - Tracy Austin

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

First World Games held in Santa Clara, United States

Eleventh Summer Universiade held in Bucharest, Romania

Tenth Winter Universiade held in Jaca, Spain

Births

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

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

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

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

May

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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