See also:
1980 in sports,
other events of 1981,
1982 in sports and the
list of 'years in sports'.
- 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
- March 21 - In an international women's field hockey match at Wembley Stadium, England. England beat Wales 2-1.
Men's Golf
Women's Golf
Births
January
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
April
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
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
September
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
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
1981 | 1981 in sports
1981 en sport | 1981年のスポーツ | Sportåret 1981