1961 in sports
See also: 1960 in sports, other events of 1961, 1962 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.
Auto Racing
- Stock car racing:
- Indianapolis 500 - A.J. Foyt
- USAC Racing - A.J. Foyt won the driving championship
- Formula One Championship - Phil Hill of the United States
- 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Olivier Gendebien / Phil Hill win, driving a Ferrari TR61
- Rally racing - the team of Maurice Martin / Roger Bateau won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Panhard PL17
- Drag racing - Pete Robinson won Top Eliminator at the NHRA Nationals
Baseball
- January 16: Mickey Mantle becomes the highest paid player in Major League Baseball by signing a contract that will pay him $75,000 per season.
- April 11: The former Washington Senators play their first home game in Metropolitan Stadium as the Minnesota Twins
- July 13: In his majors debut, Milwaukee Braves outfielder Mack Jones tied a post-1900 National League record by collecting three singles and a double in his first game.
- Roger Maris hits 61 home runs during the regular season, breaking Babe Ruth's mark of 60 that had stood since 1927
- October - World Series: New York Yankees win 4 games to 1 over the Cincinnati Reds. The series MVP is Whitey Ford of the Yankees.
Basketball
- NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
- Cincinnati wins 70-65 over Ohio St.
- NBA Finals:
- Boston Celtics won 4 games to 1 over the St. Louis Hawks
Billiards
- Maureen Baynton won the Women's World Amateur Billiards Championships
Boxing
- June 3 in Los Angeles, California - Emile Griffith knocked out Gaspar Ortega in the 12th round to retain the Welterweight Championship
Cycling
- Giro d'Italia won by Ercole Baldini of Italy
- Tour de France - Jacques Anquetil of France
- World Cycling Championship: Rik Van Looy of Belgium
Figure Skating
- The World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia were canceled after the entire United States team of skaters, officials, leaders and chaperones all died on February 15 in a plane crash just outside of Belgium while traveling to the competition.
Football (American)
- AFL Championship: Houston Oilers won 10-3 over the San Diego Chargers
- NFL Championship: Green Bay Packers won 37-0 over the New York Giants
Football (Australian rules football)
Hawthorn 13.16 (94) d Footscray 7.9 (51))
Football (Canadian)
- Grey Cup: Winnipeg Blue Bombers win 21-14 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Football (Soccer)
- England - FA Cup: Tottenham Hotspur won 2-0 over Leicester City
Golf
- Grand Slam of golf results:
- April - The Masters - Gary Player _ Player became the first international golfer to win The Masters.
- June - US Open - Gene Littler
- July - British Open - Arnold Palmer
- August - PGA Championship - Jerry Barber
- PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Gary Player - $64,540
- Ryder Cup: United States wins 14 1/2 to 9 1/2 over Britain in world team golf.
- US Women's Open - Mickey Wright
- LPGA Championship - Mickey Wright
- Mickey Wright: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $22,236
Thoroughbred Horse Racing
- Australia - Melbourne Cup - Lord Fury
- Canada - Queen's Plate - Blue Light
- France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Molvedo
- Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Your Highness
- United States Triple Crown Races:
- Kentucky Derby - Carry Back
- Preakness Stakes - Carry Back
- Belmont Stakes - Sherluck
Harness Racing
- United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
- Cane Pace - Cold Front
- Little Brown Jug - Henry T. Adios
- Messenger Stakes - Adios Don
- United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
- Hambletonian - Harlan Dean
- Yonkers Trot - Duke Rodney
- Kentucky Futurity - Duke Rodney
- Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
- Pacers: Massacre
Ice Hockey
- Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Bernie "Boom-Boom" Geoffrion, Montreal Canadiens
- Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Bernie "Boom-Boom" Geoffrion, Montreal Canadiens
- Stanley Cup: Chicago Blackhawks win 4 games to 2 over the Detroit Red Wings
- World Hockey Championship:
- Men's champion: Trail Smokeaters from Canada
- NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship - University of Denver Pioneers defeat St. Lawrence University Saints 12-2 in Denver, CO
Radiosport
- First European Amateur Radio Direction Finding Championships held in Stockholm, Sweden. This event was the first organized international competition in the sport.
Tennis
- Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
- Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
General sporting events
- Pan Arab Games held in Casablanca, Morocco
- Second Summer Universiade held in Sofia, Bulgaria
Births
January
- January 1 — Maurits Hendriks, Dutch field hockey coach
- January 2 — Alberto Mercado, Puerto Rican boxer
- January 2 — Carole Teffri, French field hockey player
- January 6 — Harriet van Ettekoven, Dutch rower
- January 15 — Jerry Page, American boxer
- January 26 — Wayne Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player
- January 31 — Miguel de Paz, Spanish field hockey player
February
- February 1 — Stan van Belkum, Dutch water polo player
- February 1 — Volker Fried, German field hockey player
- February 11 — Mary Docter, American speed skater
- February 20 — Steve Lundquist, American swimmer
- February 21 — Davey Allison, American automobile racer (d. 1993)
- February 21 — Marívi González, Spanish field hockey player
- February 28 — János Váradi, Hungarian boxer
March
- March 2 — Ken Goodwin, Canadian field hockey goalkeeper
- March 4 — René Klaassen, Dutch field hockey defender
- March 4 — Ray Mancini, Italian-American boxer
- March 10 — Mitch Gaylord, American gymnast
- March 10 — Bobby Petrino, American college football coach
- March 12 — Mary Nevill, British field hockey player
- March 21 — Lothar Matthäus, German football player
- March 24 — Maureen O’Toole, American water polo player
April
- April 6 — Brenda Stauffer, American field hockey player
- April 15 — Tiina Lillak, Finnish javelin thrower
- April 19 — Kirsten Emmelmann, East German track and field athlete
- April 23 — Bryan Carbis, British ice speed skater
- April 30 — Irina Bogacheva, Kyrgyz long-distance runner
May
- May 2 — Ronnie Baxter, English darts player
- May 2 — Peter Doohan, Australian tennis player
- May 4 — Luis Herrera, Colombian cyclist
- May 8 — Andrea Pollack, East German butterfly swimmer
- May 10 — Viktor Deputatov, Soviet field hockey player
- May 13 — Dennis Rodman, American NBA player
- May 24 — Trevor Porritt, Canadian field hockey player
- May 27 — Jill Sterkel, American freestyle swimmer
June
- June 1 — Werner Günthör, Swiss track and field athlete
- June 3 — Peter Vidmar, American gymnast
- June 5 — Ramesh Krishnan, Indian tennis player
- June 14 — Mihai Cioc, Romanian judoka
- June 16 — Marjolein Eijsvogel, Dutch field hockey forward
- June 16 — Stuart Grimshaw, New Zealand field hockey player
- June 24 — Juan Arnoldo Cayasso, Costa Rican soccer player
- June 26 — Greg LeMond, American cyclist, three-time Tour de France winner
July
- July 1 — Carl Lewis, American athletics legend, nine-time Olympic gold medalist
- July 7 — Stephen Brace, Welsh long-distance runner
- July 7 — Chun Chil-Sung, South Korean boxer
- July 20 — Ria Visser, Ducth ice speed skater
- July 26 — Danie Visser, South African tennis player
- July 28 — Alexander Kurlovitch, Soviet weightlifter
- July 28 — Yannick Dalmas, French Formula One driver
August
- August 1 — Peter Evans, Australian breastroke swimmer
- August 3 — Ken Wark, Australian field hockey player
- August 16 — Sandy Lister, British field hockey player
- August 24 — Ingrid Berghmans, Belgian judoka
- August 29 — Carsten Fischer, German field hockey player
- August 29 — Armando Martínez, Cuban boxer
- August 30 — Salvatore Todisco, Italian boxer
September
- September 2 — Carlos Valderrama, Colombian football player
- September 3 — Nick Brown, British tennis player
- September 6 — Akira Kuroiwa, Japanese ice speed skater
- September 7 — Deb Covey, Canadian field hockey player
- September 7 — Donald Curry, American boxer
- September 15 — Dan Marino, American football player
- September 24 — Nancy Garapick, Canadian backstroke swimmer
- September 25 — Frankie Randall, American boxer
- September 28 — Yordanka Donkova, Bulgarian hurdling athlete
- September 28 — Shannon Smith, Canadian freestyle swimmer
- September 30 — Hidde Kruize, Dutch field hockey striker
October
- October 11 — Steve Young, American football player
- October 15 — Jon Uriarte, Argentine volleyball player
- October 21 — Pablo Arraya, Peruvian tennis player
- October 22 — Barbara Potter, American tennis player
- October 26 — Manuel Estiarte, Spanish water polo player
November
- November 4 — Catharina Neelissen, Dutch rower
- November 10 — Rob Smith, Australia-born Canadian field hockey player
- November 12 — Nadia Comaneci, Romanian-born gymnast
- November 12 — Enzo Francéscoli, Uruguayan football (soccer) player
- November 30 — Nicolette Hellemans, Dutch rower
December
- December 8 — Stephane Bonneau, Canadian tennis player
- December 10 — Mark McKoy, Canadian hurdler
- December 19 — Reggie White, American football player
- December 19 — Juan Martin Coggi, Argentine boxer
- December 27 — Tomi Poikolainen, Finnish archer
- December 27 — Harbhajan Rai, Indian-born Canadian field hockey player
- December 31 — Shelley Fruin, New Zealand cricketer
Deaths
- February 15 — Bradley Lord, (1961 U.S. men's figure skating champion)
- February 15 — Maribel Vinson-Owen, U.S. figure skating champion & coach
- February 15 — Maribel Yerxa Owen, U.S. figure skating champion
- February 15 — Laurence Richon Owen, U.S. figure skating champion
- June 23 — Richard Gunn (90), English boxer (b. 1871)
- July 17 — Ty Cobb, American Major League Baseball player
- November 25 — Hubert van Innis (95), Belgian archer (b. 1866)
Categories
1961 in sports