Alpine skiing

Alpine skiing

Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...

• Alpine Skiing World Cup
  Alpine skiing World Cup
  The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France and the USA...
  
   –
  • Men's overall season champion: Phil Mahre
    Phil Mahre
    Philip Mahre is a former champion alpine ski racer, widely regarded as one of the greatest American skiers of all time...
    
    , USA
  • Women's overall season champion: Marie-Theres Nadig
    Marie-Theres Nadig
    Marie-Theres Nadig is a former Swiss alpine skier. As a 17-year old, she won Gold in the Downhill and Giant Slalom at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo....
    
    , Switzerland

American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

• January 25 - Super Bowl XV
  Super Bowl XV
  Super Bowl XV was an American football game played on January 25, 1981 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1980 regular season...
  
   – Oakland Raiders
  Oakland Raiders
  The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
  
   win 27-10 over the Philadelphia Eagles
  Philadelphia Eagles
  The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
  
  
• October 11 - LeRoy Irvin
  Leroy Irvin
  Leroy Irvin was a member of the Los Angeles Rams from 1980 to 1989. He played cornerback. He played in the Pro Bowl in 1985 and 1986. He currently holds the record for most punt return yards in a single game against the Atlanta Falcons in 1981. Irvin is one of only a few players in NFL history...
  
   sets NFL record for most punt return yards in a game (207).

Artistic gymnastics

Artistic gymnastics

Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics where gymnasts perform short routines on different apparatus, with less time for vaulting . The sport is governed by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique , which designs the Code of Points and regulates all aspects of international elite...

• World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
  1981 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
  The 21st Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Moscow, the capital of the USSR, in 1981.-Medals:-All-around:- Floor exercise :-Pommel horse:-Rings:-Vault:-Parallel bars:-Horizontal bar:-Team final:-All-around:...
  
   –
  • Men's all-around champion: Yuri Korolev
    Yuri Korolev
    Yuri Nikolaevich Korolev , born August 25, 1962 in Vladimir, Russia is an artistic gymnast who competed for The USSR during the 1980s, winning many World and European Medals...
    
    , USSR
  • Women's all-around champion: Olga Bicherova
    Olga Bicherova
    Olga Anatolyevna Bicherova was a Soviet gymnast, who won the women's all-round gold medal at the 1981 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships....
    
    , USSR
  • Men's team competition champion: USSR
  • Women's team competition champion: USSR

Association football

• UEFA Champions League
  European Cup 1980-81
  The 1980–81 season of the European Cup football club tournament was won for a third time by Liverpool in the final against Real Madrid. In the 11 seasons up to and including this one, there were only four winners of the European Cup , but there were eleven different runners-up...
  
   – Liverpool FC
  Liverpool F.C.
  Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
  
   1-0 Real Madrid
  Real Madrid
  Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
  
  
• UEFA Cup
  UEFA Cup
  The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
  
   – two leg final: 1st leg Ipswich Town F.C.
  Ipswich Town F.C.
  Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....
  
   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
  FC Dinamo Tbilisi
  FC Dinamo Tbilisi is a Georgian football team, based in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.Dinamo Tbilisi was one of the most prominent clubs in Soviet football and a major contender in the Soviet Top League almost immediately after it was established in 1936...
  
   2-1 Carl Zeiss Jena
• Copa Libertadores de América
  Copa Libertadores 1981
  The 1981 edition of the Copa Libertadores saw Flamengo as the champions after defeating Cobreloa in the finals.-Group stage:Nacional bye to the second round as 1980 title holders.-Group 1:-Group 2:-Group 3:----------------...
  
   – Flamengo
  Clube de Regatas do Flamengo
  Clube de Regatas do Flamengo , also known as Flamengo and familiarly as Mengão, is a Brazilian sports club based in the Flamengo bairro, Zona Sul, Rio de Janeiro, best known for its professional football team...
  
   2-0 Cobreloa
  Cobreloa
  Club de Deportes Cobreloa is a Chilean football club from the Atacama Desert mining city of Calama which has established itself as one of the country's most competitive clubs. The club was founded on January 7, 1977 and play in the Chilean top flight, the Primera División, where they have played...
  
  
• World Club Championship
  Intercontinental Cup (football)
  The European/South American Cup, commonly referred to as the World Club Championship, Intercontinental Cup or Toyota Cup, was a football competition endorsed by UEFA and CONMEBOL, contested between the winners of the European Cup and the South American Copa Libertadores...
  
   – Flamengo
  Clube de Regatas do Flamengo
  Clube de Regatas do Flamengo , also known as Flamengo and familiarly as Mengão, is a Brazilian sports club based in the Flamengo bairro, Zona Sul, Rio de Janeiro, best known for its professional football team...
  
   3-0 Liverpool FC
• Aston Villa
  Aston Villa F.C.
  Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
  
   win English League Championship
• FA Cup
  FA Cup
  The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
  
   – Tottenham Hotspur
  Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
  Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
  
   win 3-2 over Manchester City
  Manchester City F.C.
  Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
  
  

Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

• Victorian Football League
  Australian Football League
  The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
  
  
  • Carlton
    Carlton Football Club
    The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
    
     win the 85th VFL Premiership (Carlton 12.20 (92) d Collingwood
    Collingwood Football Club
    The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
    
     10.12 (72))
  • Brownlow Medal
    Brownlow Medal
    The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...
    
     awarded to Barry Round
    Barry Round
    Barry Round played for Footscray and South Melbourne/Sydney in the Victorian Football League between 1969 and 1985. Along the way, he played 328 games , won a Brownlow Medal in 1981 and was the Swans' first captain during the Sydney era...
    
     (South Melbourne
    Sydney Swans
    The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
    
    ) and Bernie Quinlan
    Bernie Quinlan
    Bernie Quinlan , was a former Australian rules footballer and coach, who enjoyed a lengthy career with Footscray and Fitzroy in the VFL. He played 366 league games in total.- Playing career :...
    
     (Fitzroy
    Fitzroy Football Club
    The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...
    
    )
  • At the end of the season, South Melbourne relocate to Sydney and are renamed the Sydney Swans.

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

• For a Venezuelans baseball player's strike the Caribbean World Series
  Caribbean World Series
  The Caribbean Series , also called the Caribbean World Series is the highest baseball tournament at club level in Latin America. The league winners from the Winter Leagues of Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela participate in the tournament...
  
   of this year is cancelled.
• January 15 - In his first year of eligibility, former Cardinals
  St. Louis Cardinals
  The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
  
   pitcher
  Pitcher
  In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
  
   Bob Gibson
  Bob Gibson
  Robert "Bob" Gibson is a retired American professional baseball player. Nicknamed "Hoot" and "Gibby", he was a right-handed pitcher who played his entire 17-year Major League Baseball career with St. Louis Cardinals...
  
   is the only player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Gibson won 20 games five times, struck out
  Strikeout
  In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....
  
   3,117 batters, and captured the Cy Young Award
  Cy Young Award
  The Cy Young Award is an honor given annually in baseball to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball , one each for the American League and National League . The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young, who died in 1955...
  
   and MVP in 1968 with a 1.12 ERA
  Earned run average
  In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...
  
  . Players falling short of the 301 votes needed for election include Don Drysdale
  Don Drysdale
  Donald Scott "Don" Drysdale was a Major League Baseball player and Hall of Fame right-handed pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was one of the dominant starting pitchers of the 1960s, and became a radio and television broadcaster following his playing career...
  
   (243), Gil Hodges
  Gil Hodges
  Gilbert Ray Hodges was an American Major League Baseball first baseman and manager. During an 18-year baseball career, he played in 1943 and from 1947–63, spending most of his career with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers...
  
   (241), Harmon Killebrew
  Harmon Killebrew
  Harmon Clayton Killebrew , nicknamed "Killer" and "Hammerin' Harmon", was an American professional baseball first baseman, third baseman, and left fielder. During his 22-year career in Major League Baseball , he played for the Washington Senators, a team which later became the Minnesota Twins, and...
  
   (239), Hoyt Wilhelm
  Hoyt Wilhelm
  James Hoyt Wilhelm was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985....
  
   (238), and Juan Marichal
  Juan Marichal
  Juan Antonio Marichal Sánchez is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. Playing for the San Francisco Giants most of his career, Marichal was known for his high leg kick, pinpoint control and intimidation tactics, which included aiming pitches directly at the opposing batters'...
  
   (233). All except Hodges would subsequently gain election.
• April 18 - An International League
  International League
  The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...
  
   game between the Pawtucket Red Sox
  Pawtucket Red Sox
  The Pawtucket Red Sox are the minor league baseball Triple-A affiliates of the Boston Red Sox and belong to the International League...
  
   and the visiting Rochester Red Wings
  Rochester Red Wings
  The Rochester Red Wings are a minor league baseball team based in Rochester, New York. The team plays in the International League and is the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins major-league club. The Red Wings play in Frontier Field, located in downtown Rochester.The Red Wings were an...
  
   set the record for the most innings
  Innings
  An inning, or innings, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably cricket and baseball during which one team attempts to score while the other team attempts to prevent the first from scoring. In cricket, the term innings is both singular and plural and is...
  
   ever played in a single professional baseball game, at 33 innings (24 extra innings
  Extra innings
  Extra innings is the extension of a baseball or softball game in order to break a tie.Ordinarily, a baseball game consists of nine innings , each of which is divided into halves: the visiting team bats first, after which the home team takes its turn at bat...
  
  ). 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
  Major League Baseball
  Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
  
   players begin a 49 day strike over the issue of free-agent compensation.
• World Series
  World Series
  The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
  
   – Los Angeles Dodgers
  Los Angeles Dodgers
  The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
  
   win 4 games to 2 over the New York Yankees
  New York Yankees
  The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
  
  . The Series MVP is a tie between Ron Cey
  Ron Cey
  Ronald Charles Cey |Washington]]) is a former third baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers , Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics . Cey batted and threw right-handed...
  
  , Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager
  Steve Yeager
  Stephen Wayne "Steve" Yeager is an American right-handed former major league baseball catcher. Yeager spent 14 of the 15 seasons of his Major League Baseball career, from through , with the Los Angeles Dodgers. His last year, , he played for the Seattle Mariners...
  
  , Los Angeles

Basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

• NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
  1981 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
  The 1981 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 48 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 1981, and ended with the championship game on March 30 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
  
   –
  • Indiana wins 63-50 over North Carolina
• NBA Finals –
  • Boston Celtics
    Boston Celtics
    The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
    
     won 4 games to 2 over the Houston Rockets
    Houston Rockets
    The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
    
    
• National Basketball League (Australia)
  National Basketball League (Australia)
  The National Basketball League, also known as the iiNet NBL Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in Australasia....
  
   Finals:
  • Launceston Casino City defeated the Nunawading Spectres 75-54 in the final.

Boxing

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

• April 11 – Larry Holmes
  Larry Holmes
  Larry Holmes is a former professional boxer. He grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, which gave birth to his boxing nickname, The Easton Assassin....
  
   defeats Trevor Berbick
  Trevor Berbick
  Trevor Berbick was a Jamaican-Canadian heavyweight boxer who fought as a professional from 1976 until 2000. Berbick briefly held the WBC heavyweight championship in 1986 , before losing it to 20-year old Mike Tyson, via 2nd-round TKO...
  
   by a unanimous decision to retain the WBC heavyweight title.
• August 21 – Salvador Sánchez
  Salvador Sánchez
  Salvador Sánchez Narváez was a Mexican boxer born in the town of Santiago Tianguistenco, Estado de México. Many of his contemporaries as well as boxing writers believe that, had it not been for his premature death, Sanchez could have gone on to become the greatest Featherweight boxer of all time...
  
   defeats Wilfredo Gómez
  Wilfredo Gómez
  Wilfredo Gómez , sometimes referred to as Bazooka Gómez, is a former boxer and three time world champion.-Biography:...
  
   by knockout in round eight to retain boxing
  Boxing
  Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
  
  's WBC
  World Boxing Council
  The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...
  
   world Featherweight title.(see: The Battle of the Little Giants
  The Battle of the Little Giants
  The Battle of the Little Giants was a 1981 boxing event with a deep social impact.Fought on August 21, 1981, at the Caesars Palace hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, it pitted Wilfredo Gómez, a Puerto Rican who had a record of 32 wins, 0 losses, 1 draw, and all his wins by knockout, and who was the...
  
  )
• September 16 – Sugar Ray Leonard
  Sugar Ray Leonard
  Sugar Ray Leonard is an American retired professional boxer and occasional actor. He was named Ray Charles Leonard, after his mother's favorite singer, Ray Charles...
  
   defeats Thomas Hearns
  Thomas Hearns
  Thomas "Hitman" Hearns is a retired American boxer. Nicknamed the "Motor City Cobra" and more famously "The Hitman", Hearns became the first boxer in history to win world titles in four divisions. He would also become the first fighter in history to win five world titles in five different divisions...
  
   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

Canadian football

Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...

• Grey Cup
  Grey Cup
  The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
  
   – Edmonton Eskimos
  Edmonton Eskimos
  The Edmonton Eskimos are a Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. They currently play in the West Division of the Canadian Football League . Edmonton is currently the third-youngest franchise in the CFL, although there were clubs with the name Edmonton Eskimos as early as 1895...
  
   win 26-23 over the Ottawa Rough Riders
  Ottawa Rough Riders
  The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. One of the oldest and longest lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine times. Their most dominant era was the 1960s and 1970s, a...
  
  
• Vanier Cup
  Vanier Cup
  The Vanier Cup is the name of the championship of Canadian Interuniversity Sport football and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl...
  
   – Acadia Axemen
  Acadia Axemen
  In their history, the Axemen Canadian football teams have appeared in four Vanier Cup national championships, winning two of those in 1979 and in 1981...
  
   win 18-12 over the Alberta Golden Bears
  Alberta Golden Bears
  The Alberta Golden Bears are the men's athletic teams that represent the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The women's teams are known as the Alberta Pandas.-History:...
  
  

Cycling

Cycling

Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...

• Giro d'Italia
  Giro d'Italia
  The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...
  
   won by Giovanni Battaglin
  Giovanni Battaglin
  Giovanni Battaglin is an Italian professional road racing cyclist. The highlight of his career was his overall win in the 1981 Giro d'Italia. He also won the 1981 Vuelta a España.-Early years:...
  
   of Italy
• Tour de France
  Tour de France
  The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
  
   - Bernard Hinault
  Bernard Hinault
  Bernard Hinault is a former French cyclist known for five victories in the Tour de France. He is one of only five cyclists to have won all three Grand Tours, and the only cyclist to have won each more than once. He won the Tour de France in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1985...
  
   of France

Dogsled racing

Dogsled racing

Sled dog racing is a winter dog sport most popular in the Arctic regions of the United States, Canada, Russia, and some European countries. It involves the timed competition of teams of sleddogs that pull a sled with the dog driver or musher standing on the runners...

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion –
  • Rick Swenson
    Rick Swenson
    For the Saskatchewan politician see Rick Swenson .Rick Swenson, sometimes known as the "King of the Iditarod", , is an American dog musher who has won the 1,049-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across the U.S. state of Alaska more times than any other competitor...
    
     won with lead dogs: Andy & Slick

Field hockey

Field hockey

Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

• 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

Figure skating

Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...

• World Figure Skating Championships
  World Figure Skating Championships
  The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...
  
   –
  • Men's champion: Scott Hamilton
    Scott Hamilton (figure skater)
    Scott Scovell Hamilton is an American figure skater and Olympic gold medalist. He won four consecutive U.S. championships , four consecutive World Championships and a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics....
    
    , United States
  • Ladies' champion: Denise Biellmann
    Denise Biellmann
    Denise Biellmann is a Swiss professional figure skater. She is the 1981 European and World Champion. She won the Swiss Championships three times.-Amateur career:...
    
    , Switzerland
  • Pair skating champions: Irina Vorobeva & Igor Lisovski, Soviet Union
  • Ice dancing champions: Jayne Torvill
    Jayne Torvill
    Jayne Torvill, OBE is a British ice dancer. With Christopher Dean, she won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics.-Early life:...
    
     & Christopher Dean
    Christopher Dean
    Christopher Colin Dean, OBE is a famous British ice dancer who won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics with his skating partner Jayne Torvill...
    
    , Great Britain

Gaelic Athletic Association

Gaelic Athletic Association

The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...

• Camogie
  Camogie
  Camogie is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women; it is almost identical to the game of hurling played by men. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and world wide, largely among Irish communities....
  
  
  • All-Ireland Camogie Champion: Kilkenny
    Kilkenny GAA
    The Kilkenny County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland and is responsible for Gaelic Games in County Kilkenny. The county board has its head office and main grounds at Nowlan Park and is also responsible for Kilkenny inter-county teams...
    
    
  • National Camogie League: Dublin
    Dublin GAA
    Dublin County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association , or Dublin GAA, is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Dublin. The county board is also responsible for the Dublin inter-county teams...
    
    
• Gaelic football
  Gaelic football
  Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
  
  
  • All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
    All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
    The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the premier competition in Gaelic football, is a series of games organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and played during the summer and early autumn...
    
     – Kerry
    Kerry GAA
    The Kerry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Kerry...
    
     1-12 d. Offaly
    Offaly GAA
    The Offaly County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Offaly GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Offaly...
    
     0-8
  • National Football League
    National Football League (Ireland)
    The National Football League is a Gaelic football tournament held annually between the county teams of Ireland, under the auspices of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The prize for the winning team is the New Ireland Cup, presented by the New Ireland Assurance Company...
    
     – Galway
    Galway GAA
    The Galway County Boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Galway GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Galway. The county boards are also responsible for the Galway inter-county teams.Unlike all other counties in Ireland,...
    
     1-11 d. Roscommon
    Roscommon GAA
    For more details of Roscommon GAA see Roscommon Senior Club Football Championship or Roscommon Senior Club Hurling Championship.The Roscommon County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Roscommon GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games...
    
     1-3
• Ladies' Gaelic football
  Ladies' Gaelic football
  Ladies' Gaelic football is a team sport for women, very similar to Gaelic football, and co-ordinated by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association...
  
  
  • All-Ireland Senior Football Champion: Kerry
    Kerry GAA
    The Kerry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Kerry...
    
     1-12 d. Offaly
    Offaly GAA
    The Offaly County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Offaly GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Offaly...
    
     0-8
  • National Football League: Galway
    Galway GAA
    The Galway County Boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Galway GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Galway. The county boards are also responsible for the Galway inter-county teams.Unlike all other counties in Ireland,...
    
     1-11 d. Roscommon
    Roscommon GAA
    For more details of Roscommon GAA see Roscommon Senior Club Football Championship or Roscommon Senior Club Hurling Championship.The Roscommon County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Roscommon GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games...
    
     1-3
• Hurling
  Hurling
  Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...
  
  
  • All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
    All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
    The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1887 for the top hurling teams in Ireland....
    
     – Offaly
    Offaly GAA
    The Offaly County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Offaly GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Offaly...
    
     2-12 d. Galway
    Galway GAA
    The Galway County Boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Galway GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Galway. The county boards are also responsible for the Galway inter-county teams.Unlike all other counties in Ireland,...
    
     0-15
  • National Hurling League
    National Hurling League
    The National Hurling League is an annual hurling competition between the county teams of Ireland. Contested by 35 teams , it operates on a system of promotion and relegation between four different divisions, with Division One...
    
     – Cork 3-11 d. Offaly
    Offaly GAA
    The Offaly County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Offaly GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Offaly...
    
     2-8

Golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

• Masters Tournament - Tom Watson
  Tom Watson (golfer)
  Thomas Sturges Watson is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and now mostly on the Champions Tour....
  
  
• U.S. Open
  U.S. Open (golf)
  The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...
  
   - David Graham
  David Graham (golfer)
  Anthony David Graham is a former professional golfer from Australia.Born in Windsor, Australia, Graham turned professional in 1962 at age 16 and spent much of his career in the United States, playing on the PGA Tour. Turning age 50 in 1996, he joined the Senior PGA Tour, later known as the...
  
  
• British Open
  The Open Championship
  The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...
  
   - Bill Rogers
  Bill Rogers (golfer)
  William Charles Rogers is an American professional golfer who is best known as the winner of the 1981 Open Championship....
  
  
• PGA Championship
  PGA Championship
  The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship...
  
   - Larry Nelson
  Larry Nelson
  Larry Gene Nelson is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments at both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour level.Nelson was born in Fort Payne, Alabama and grew up in Acworth, Georgia, northwest of Atlanta...
  
  
• PGA Tour
  PGA Tour
  The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
  
   money leader - Tom Kite
  Tom Kite
  Thomas Oliver Kite, Jr. is an American professional golfer and golf course architect. He spent 175 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1989 and 1994....
  
   - $375,699
• Senior PGA Tour
  Champions Tour
  The Champions Tour, a golf tour run by the PGA Tour, hosts a series of events annually in the United States and the United Kingdom for golfers 50 years of age and older. Many of the PGA Tour's most successful golfers have gone on to play on the Champions Tour.The Senior PGA Championship, founded in...
  
   money leader - Miller Barber
  Miller Barber
  Miller Barber is an American professional golfer who enjoyed significant success on the PGA Tour in the 1960s and 1970s, and a greater degree of success on the Senior PGA Tour in the 1980s.-Career:...
  
   - $83,136
• Ryder Cup
  Ryder Cup
  The Ryder Cup is a biennial golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is jointly administered by the PGA of America and the PGA European Tour, and is contested every two years, the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe...
  
   - United States win 18½ to 9½ over Europe in team golf.

• British Amateur
  The Amateur Championship
  The Amateur Championship is a golf tournament which is held annually in the United Kingdom. It is one of the two leading individual tournaments for amateur golfers, alongside the U.S. Amateur...
  
   - Phillipe Ploujoux
• U.S. Amateur - Nathaniel Crosby
  Nathaniel Crosby
  Nathaniel Patrick Crosby is an American golfer.Crosby was born at Hillsborough, California. He is the seventh child of the actor and singer Bing Crosby and the youngest of his three children from his second marriage to the actress Kathryn Grant.Crosby performed with his father, mother, brother...
  
  

• LPGA Championship
  LPGA Championship
  The LPGA Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Wegmans LPGA Championship, is the second-longest running tournament in the history of the Ladies Professional Golf Association surpassed only by the U.S. Women's Open. It is one of four majors on the LPGA tour...
  
   - Donna Caponi
  Donna Caponi
  Donna Caponi-Byrnes is an American professional golfer.Caponi was born in Detroit, Michigan. The daughter of a club pro, Caponi began playing golf at the age of eight and joined the LPGA Tour at 20. Caponi captured her first win on the Tour four years later in 1970, winning the U.S. Women's Open...
  
  
• U.S. Women's Open
  United States Women's Open Championship (golf)
  The United States Women's Open Golf Championship, one of thirteen national championships conducted by the United States Golf Association , is one of the LPGA's major championships along with the LPGA Championship, the Women's British Open, and the Kraft Nabisco Championship...
  
   - Pat Bradley
• Classique Peter Jackson Classic - Jan Stephenson
  Jan Stephenson
  Jan Lynne Stephenson is an Australian professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1974 and won three major championships and 16 LPGA Tour events in all....
  
  
• LPGA Tour
  LPGA
  The LPGA, in full the Ladies Professional Golf Association, is an American organization for female professional golfers. The organization, whose headquarters is in Daytona Beach, Florida, is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from...
  
   money leader - Beth Daniel
  Beth Daniel
  Beth Daniel is an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1979 and won 33 LPGA Tour events, including one major championship, during her career. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame....
  
   - $206,998

Harness racing

Harness racing

Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait . They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, although racing under saddle is also conducted in Europe.-Breeds:...

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races
  Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers
  The Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers consists of the following horse races:#Cane Pace, held at Freehold Raceway in Freehold, New Jersey#Little Brown Jug, held at the Delaware County Fair in Delaware, Ohio...
  
   –
  1. Cane Pace
     Cane Pace
     The Cane Pace is a harness horse race run annually since 1955. In 1956 the race joined with the Little Brown Jug and the Messenger Stakes to become the first leg in the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers....
     
      - Wildwood Jeb
  2. Little Brown Jug
     Little Brown Jug (horse racing)
     The Little Brown Jug is a harness race for three-year-old pacing standardbreds hosted by the Delaware County Agricultural Society since 1946 at the County Fairgrounds in Delaware, Ohio. The race takes place every year on the third Thursday after Labor Day. Along with the Hambletonian, a race for...
     
      - Fan Hanover (Filly)
  3. Messenger Stakes
     Messenger Stakes
     The Messenger Stakes is an American harness racing event for 3-year-old pacing horses. It was organized in 1956 at Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, New York to join with the Cane Pace and the Little Brown Jug to create the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers...
     
      - Seahawk Hanover
• United States Trotting Triple Crown races
  Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters
  The Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters consists of the following horse races:*Hambletonian, held at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey*Yonkers Trot, held at Yonkers Raceway in Yonkers, New York...
  
   –
  1. Hambletonian - Shiaway St. Pat
  2. Yonkers Trot
     Yonkers Trot
     The Yonkers Trot is a harness race for three-year old trotting standardbreds held at Yonkers Raceway in New York. In 2008, it was the first leg of the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters. In 2009, the order of the events has been changed and Yonkers Trot will be the second leg of the Triple...
     
      - Mo Bandy
  3. Kentucky Futurity
     Kentucky Futurity
     The Kentucky Futurity is a stakes race for three-year-old trotters, held annually at The Red Mile in Lexington, Kentucky since 1893. It is part of the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters....
     
      - Filet of Sole
• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
  • Pacers: San Simeon
    San Simeon (horse)
    San Simeon is a Standardbred pacer from Western Australia best known for his Australasian record winning sequence of 29 races from his first start as a two year old until his defeat by Michael Frost during the 1981 Interdominion series in Hobart, Tasmania...
    
    

Horse racing

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

• August 30 – John Henry
  John Henry (horse)
  John Henry was an American Thoroughbred race horse who had 39 wins, with $6,591,860 in earnings. He was twice voted the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year in 1981 and 1984, with his 1981 selection is the only one whereby the victor received all votes cast for that award. John Henry was also...
  
   becomes the first horse to win a million dollar race, the inaugural Arlington Million, at Arlington Park
  Arlington Park
  Arlington Park is a horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Horse racing in the Chicago region has been a popular sport since the early days of the city in the 1830s, and at one time Chicago had more horse racing tracks than any other major metropolitan area...
  
   in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois
  Arlington Heights, Illinois
  Arlington Heights is a village in Cook and Lake counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about 25 miles northwest of the city's downtown. The population was 75,101 at the 2010 census....
  
  .
• 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.

• Cheltenham Gold Cup
  Cheltenham Gold Cup
  The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt chase in the United Kingdom which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 3 miles and 2½ furlongs , and during its running there are twenty-two fences to be jumped...
  
   – Little Owl
• Grand National
  Grand National
  The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...
  
   – Aldaniti
  Aldaniti
  Aldaniti , , was a famous racehorse who won the Grand National on 4 April 1981. Jockey Bob Champion famously recovered from cancer while Aldaniti recovered after suffering a career threatening injury. The horse was trained by Josh Gifford...
  
  

• Australia – Melbourne Cup
  Melbourne Cup
  The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...
  
   won by Just a Dash
• Canada – Queen's Plate
  Queen's Plate
  The Queen's Plate is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race. It is run at a distance of 1¼ miles for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each summer in June or July at Woodbine Racetrack, Etobicoke , Ontario...
  
   won by Fiddle Dancer Boy
  Fiddle Dancer Boy
  Fiddle Dancer Boy was a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1981 Queen's Plate, Canada's most prestigious race and North America's oldest annually run stakes race. Bred by prominent Ontario owner/breeder William R. Beasley, he was sired by Nice Dancer, the 1972 Canadian Champion...
  
  
• France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
  Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
  The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year, usually on the first Sunday in October.Popularly referred to as the...
  
   won by Gold River
  Gold River (horse)
  Gold River was a French Thoroughbred filly racehorse best known for winning France's most prestigious race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Owned and bred by Jacques Wertheimer, the president of the renowned French perfumery, Chanel, Gold River was sired by Riverman, owned by Germaine Wertheimer...
  
  
• Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes
  Irish Derby Stakes
  The Irish Derby is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late June or early July.It is Ireland's equivalent of the Epsom Derby,...
  
   won by Shergar
  Shergar
  Shergar was an acclaimed Irish racehorse, and winner of the 1981 Epsom Derby by a record 10 lengths, the longest winning margin in the race's 226-year history. This victory earned him a spot in The Observer newspaper's 100 Most Memorable Sporting Moments of the Twentieth Century...
  
  
• Japan – Japan Cup
  Japan Cup
  The is the most prestigious horse race run in Japan. It is contested at the end of November at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo at a distance of 2400 meters over the grass. With a purse of ¥476 million , the Japan Cup is one of the richest races in the world.The Japan Cup is an invitational event...
  
   won by Mairzy Doates
  Mairzy Doates
  Mairzy Doates was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. She was owned by New York City art dealer Arno D. Schefler who bought her as a weanling from breeder Preston W. Madden. Schefler named her for the novelty song "Mairzy Doats" made popular in a 1943 recording by bandleader Al Trace.Trained by...
  
  
• English Triple Crown Races
  Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
  The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...
  
  :
  1. 2,000 Guineas Stakes – To–Agori–Mou
  2. Epsom Derby
     Epsom Derby
     The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
     
      – Shergar
     Shergar
     Shergar was an acclaimed Irish racehorse, and winner of the 1981 Epsom Derby by a record 10 lengths, the longest winning margin in the race's 226-year history. This victory earned him a spot in The Observer newspaper's 100 Most Memorable Sporting Moments of the Twentieth Century...
     
     
  3. St. Leger Stakes
     St. Leger Stakes
     The St. Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 132 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in September.Established in 1776, the St. Leger...
     
      – Cut Above
• United States Triple Crown Races
  Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
  The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...
  
  :
  1. Kentucky Derby
     Kentucky Derby
     The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
     
      – Pleasant Colony
     Pleasant Colony
     Pleasant Colony was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the first two legs of the 1981 U.S. Triple Crown series....
     
     
  2. Preakness Stakes
     Preakness Stakes
     The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...
     
      – Pleasant Colony
     Pleasant Colony
     Pleasant Colony was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the first two legs of the 1981 U.S. Triple Crown series....
     
     
  3. Belmont Stakes
     Belmont Stakes
     The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...
     
      – Summing
     Summing
     Summing was an American thoroughbred stallion racehorse. He was sired by stakes winner Verbatim out of the Never Say Die mare, Well Kept....
     
     

Ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

• August 27 – death of Valeri Kharlamov (33), Russian player, in a car crash
• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL
  National Hockey League
  The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
  
  's leading scorer during the regular season: Wayne Gretzky
  Wayne Gretzky
  Wayne Douglas Gretzky, CC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. Nicknamed "The Great One", he is generally regarded as the best player in the history of the National Hockey League , and has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters,...
  
  , Edmonton Oilers
  Edmonton Oilers
  The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League ....
  
  
• Hart Memorial Trophy
  Hart Memorial Trophy
  The Hart Memorial Trophy, originally known as the Hart Trophy, the "oldest and most prestigious individual award in hockey", is awarded annually to the "player adjudged most valuable to his team" in the National Hockey League . The Hart Memorial Trophy has been awarded 86 times to 53 different...
  
   for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Wayne Gretzky
  Wayne Gretzky
  Wayne Douglas Gretzky, CC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. Nicknamed "The Great One", he is generally regarded as the best player in the history of the National Hockey League , and has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters,...
  
  , Edmonton Oilers
  Edmonton Oilers
  The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League ....
  
  
• Stanley Cup
  Stanley Cup
  The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
  
   - New York Islanders
  New York Islanders
  The New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Uniondale, New York. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
  
   win 4 games to 1 over the Minnesota North Stars
  Minnesota North Stars
  The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, and the team's colors for most of its history were green, yellow, gold and white...
  
  
• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Sweden
  • Junior Men's champion: Sweden defeated Finland

Motor racing

• Stock car racing
  Stock car racing
  Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing found mainly in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain, Brazil and Argentina. Traditionally, races are run on oval tracks measuring approximately in length...
  
   –
  • NASCAR Championship - Darrell Waltrip
    Darrell Waltrip
    Darrell Lee Waltrip is a 3-time NASCAR Cup Series champion , 3-time runner-up , winner of the 1989 Daytona 500 and 5-time winner of the prestigeous Coca-Cola 600 ,...
    
    
  • Richard Petty
    Richard Petty
    Richard Lee Petty is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series...
    
     won the Daytona 500
    Daytona 500
    The Daytona 500 is a -long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule....
    
    
• CART Racing - Rick Mears
  Rick Mears
  Rick Ravon Mears is a retired American race car driver. He is one of three men to have won the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race four times , and the current record-holder for pole positions in the race with six...
  
   won the season championship
  • May 25 - Indianapolis 500
    Indianapolis 500
    The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
    
     - Bobby Unser
    Bobby Unser
    Robert William "Bobby" Unser is a retired U.S. automobile racer. He is the brother of Al Unser, Jerry Unser and Louie Unser, the father of Robby Unser, and the uncle of Al Unser, Jr. and Johnny Unser...
    
    
• Formula One Champion
  Formula One
  Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
  
   - Nelson Piquet
  Nelson Piquet
  Nelson Piquet Souto Maior , known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He was Formula One world champion in , and . He is one of eight drivers to win three or more world championships, the others being Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna , Alain Prost , Juan...
  
   of Brazil
  Brazil
  Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
  
  
• 24 hours of Le Mans
  24 Hours of Le Mans
  The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...
  
   –
  • teammates Jacky Ickx
    Jacky Ickx
    Jacques Bernard "Jacky" Ickx is a Belgian former racing driver who achieved 25 podium finishes in Formula One and six wins in the 24 hours of Le Mans.- Racing career :...
    
     / Derek Bell
    Derek Bell (auto racer)
    Derek Reginald Bell MBE is a former racing driver from England who was extremely successful in sportscar racing, winning five times at Le Mans. He also raced in Formula One for the Ferrari, McLaren, Surtees and Tecno teams...
    
     won, driving a Porsche 936
    Porsche
    Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
    
    
• Rally racing - Ari Vatanen
  Ari Vatanen
  Ari Pieti Uolevi Vatanen is a Finnish rally driver turned politician and Member of the European Parliament 1999–2009. Vatanen won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1981 and the Paris Dakar Rally four times....
  
   in a Ford
  Ford Motor Company
  Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
  
   won the World Rally Championship
  World Rally Championship
  The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...
  
  
  • the team of Jean Ragnotti
    Jean Ragnotti
    Jean "Jeannot" Ragnotti , is a French former rally driver for Renault in the World Rally Championship....
    
     / Jean-Marc Andrie won the Monte Carlo Rally
    Monte Carlo Rally
    The Monte Carlo Rally or Rally Monte Carlo is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco which also organises the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix and the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique. The rally takes place along the French Riviera in the Principality of Monaco and...
    
     driving a Renault 5 Turbo
    Renault
    Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...
    
    
• Drag racing
  Drag racing
  Drag racing is a competition in which specially prepared automobiles or motorcycles compete two at a time to be the first to cross a set finish line, from a standing start, in a straight line, over a measured distance, most commonly a ¼-mile straight track....
  
   – Gary Beck
  Gary Beck
  Gary Beck is a two-time World champion drag racing driver. Born and raised in the United States, Beck married a Canadian and they made their home in her native Edmonton, Alberta...
  
   won "Top Fuel
  Top Fuel
  Top Fuel racing is a class of drag racing in which the cars are run on a mix of approximately 90% nitromethane and 10% methanol rather than gasoline or simply methanol. The cars are purpose-built for drag racing, with an exaggerated layout that in some ways resembles open-wheel circuit racing...
  
  " at the NHRA World Finals

Rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

• 87th Five Nations Championship
  Six Nations Championship
  The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....
  
   series is won by France
  France national rugby union team
  The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...
  
   who complete the Grand Slam
  Grand Slam (Rugby Union)
  In rugby union, a Grand Slam occurs when one team in the Six Nations Championship manages to beat all the others during one year's competition...
  
  
• The 1981 Springbok Tour
  1981 Springbok Tour
  The 1981 South African rugby union tour of New Zealand was a controversial tour of New Zealand by the South Africa national rugby union team, known as "the Springboks"...
  
   causes major controversy and riots in New Zealand

Snooker

Snooker

Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...

• World Snooker Championship
  World Snooker Championship
  The World Snooker Championship is the leading professional snooker tournament in terms of both prize money and ranking points. The first championship was held in 1927; since 1977, it has been played at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, England...
  
   – Steve Davis
  Steve Davis
  Steve Davis, OBE is an English professional snooker player. He has won more professional titles in the sport than any other player, including six World Championships during the 1980s, when he was the world number one for seven years and became the sport's first millionaire...
  
   beats Doug Mountjoy
  Doug Mountjoy
  Doug Mountjoy is a retired Welsh snooker player. Although he only won two ranking titles, he did so in successive tournaments in 1988/1989 – and while in his mid 40s. In more recent years he was the coach to the United Arab Emirates snooker association between 1997 and 1999.- Early life...
  
   18-12
• World rankings
  Snooker world rankings
  The snooker world rankings are the official system of ranking professional snooker players to determine automatic qualification and seeding for tournaments on the World Snooker Tour. They are maintained by the sport's governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association...
  
   – Cliff Thorburn
  Cliff Thorburn
  Clifford Charles Devlin Thorburn CM, known as Cliff Thorburn is a retired professional Canadian snooker player...
  
   becomes world number one
  Snooker world number ones
  There have been three ranking systems in place since 1975, which have seen nine players hold the number one position: Ray Reardon, Cliff Thorburn, Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, Mark Williams, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson and Mark Selby....
  
   for 1981/82

Swimming

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

• 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
  Brown Deer, Wisconsin
  Brown Deer is a village in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. It is a suburb of Milwaukee. The population was 11,999 at the 2010 census...
  
  , shaving 0.17 off the previous record (22.71) set by Joseph Bottom exactly one year ago in Honolulu, Hawaii
  Honolulu, Hawaii
  Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
  
  

Tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open
     Australian Open
     The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...
     
      - Johan Kriek
     Johan Kriek
     Johan Kriek is a South African American professional male tennis player and founder of the Global Water Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to delivering clean water to the world's neediest communities. Kriek has won two Australian Opens and has reached the semi-finals at the French...
     
     
  2. French Open - Björn Borg
     Björn Borg
     Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles...
     
     
  3. Wimbledon championships - John McEnroe
     John McEnroe
     John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
     
     
  4. US Open - John McEnroe
• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open
     Australian Open
     The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...
     
      - Martina Navratilova
  2. French Open - Hana Mandlíková
     Hana Mandlíková
     Hana Mandlíková is a former Czech professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia and later Australia. During her career, she won four Grand Slam singles titles – two at the Australian Open, one at the French Open, and one at the US Open...
     
     
  3. Wimbledon championships - Chris Evert
     Chris Evert
     Christine Marie "Chris" Evert is a former world number 1 professional tennis player from the United States. She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships, including a record seven championships at the French Open and a record six championships at the U.S. Open. She was the year-ending World No...
     
     
  4. US Open - Tracy Austin
     Tracy Austin
     Tracy Ann Austin Holt is a former World No. 1 female professional tennis player from the United States who won the women's singles title at the US Open in 1979 and 1981 and the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 1980, before a series of injuries cut her career short.-To 1980:Austin defeated...
     
     
• Davis Cup
  Davis Cup
  The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
  
   – United States wins 3-1 over Argentina
  Argentina
  Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
  
   in world tennis.

Volleyball

Volleyball

Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

• European Volleyball Championship
  European Volleyball Championship
  The European Volleyball Championship is a sport competition for national teams, currently held biannually and organized by the CEV, the European volleyball federation. There are both men's and women's competitions....
  
  s held in Bulgaria and won by USSR (men) and Bulgaria (women)

Water polo

Water polo

Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...

• 1981 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup
  1981 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup
  The 1981 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup was the second edition of the event, organised by the world's governing body in aquatics, the International Swimming Federation . The event took place in Long Beach, United States...
  
   in Long Beach, California
  Long Beach, California
  Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
  
   won by USSR
• 1981 FINA Women's Water Polo World Cup in Brisbane, Australia won by Canada

Multi-sport event

Multi-sport event

A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports between organized teams of athletes from nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of international significance was the modern Olympic Games.Many...

s

• First World Games
  World Games
  The World Games, first held in 1981, are an international multi-sport event, meant for sports, or disciplines or events within a sport, that are not contested in the Olympic Games...
  
   held in Santa Clara
  Santa Clara, California
  Santa Clara , founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852, is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. The city is the site of the eighth of 21 California missions, Mission Santa Clara de Asís, and was named after the mission. The Mission and Mission Gardens are located on the...
  
  , United States
• Eleventh Summer Universiade
  1981 Summer Universiade
  The 1981 Summer Universiade, also known as the XI Summer Universiade, took place in Bucharest, Romania. The events were watched by 200,000 spectators.-Medal table:-External links:*...
  
   held in Bucharest, Romania
• Tenth Winter Universiade
  1981 Winter Universiade
  The 1981 Winter Universiade, the X Winter Universiade, took place in Jaca, Spain....
  
   held in Jaca
  Jaca
  Jaca is a city of northeastern Spain near the border with France, in the midst of the Pyrenees in the province of Huesca...
  
  , Spain

Awards

• Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – John McEnroe, Tennis
• Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Tracy Austin
  Tracy Austin
  Tracy Ann Austin Holt is a former World No. 1 female professional tennis player from the United States who won the women's singles title at the US Open in 1979 and 1981 and the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 1980, before a series of injuries cut her career short.-To 1980:Austin defeated...
  
  , Tennis