Sports year 1981

badminton

event	Men's singles	Ladies singles	Men's doubles	Ladies doubles	Mixed
All of England	Indonesia Liem Swie King	Korea South Hwang Sun-ai	Indonesia Rudy Heryanto Hariamanto cardboard box Indonesia	England Nora Perry Jane Webster England	England Mike Tredgett Nora Perry England
Denmark Open	Denmark Morten Frost	Denmark Lene Køppen	Indonesia Ade Chandra Christian Hadinata Indonesia	England Nora Perry Jane Webster England	England Mike Tredgett Nora Perry England
French Open	England Steve Baddeley	Soviet Union Svetlana Belyasova	England Andy Goode Steve Baddeley England	Soviet Union Svetlana Belyasova Vard Poghosyan Soviet Union	England Nigel Beast Alison Fulton Scotland
German Open	Malaysia Misbun Sidek	Japan Hiroe Yuki	England Duncan Bridge Martin Dew England	England Gillian Gilks Paula Kilvington England	Denmark Steen Fladberg Pia Nielsen Denmark
Swedish Open	Indonesia Lius Pongoh	Korea South Hwang Sun-ai	Sweden Stefan Karlsson Thomas Kihlström Sweden	England Nora Perry Sally Leadbeater England	Scotland Billy Gilliland Nora Perry England

May 31st - Sandra Stepp , USA , reached 33.12 meters in the women's hammer throw.
June 9 - Terri Turner , USA , reached 12.43 meters in the women's triple jump.
June 10 - Sebastian Coe , Great Britain , ran the men's 800 meters in 1: 41.7 minutes.
June 20 - Thierry Vigneron , France , jumped 5.80 meters in the men's pole vault.
June 28th - Ramona Neubert , GDR , reached 6788 points in the women's heptathlon.
July 11 - Sebastian Coe , Great Britain , ran the men's 1000 meters in 2: 12.2 minutes.
July 20 - Thierry Vigneron , France , reached 5.80 meters in the men's pole vault.
July 26 - Vladimir Polyakov , Soviet Union , reached 5.81 meters in the men's pole vault.
August 15 - Antoaneta Todorova , Bulgaria , reached 71.88 meters in the women's javelin.
August 19 - Renaldo Nehemiah , USA , ran the men's 110 meter hurdles in 12.93 seconds.
Aug 20 - Susan Cook , Australia , walked 1: 39.3 hours in the women's 20,000-meter walk.
September 13 - Henry Rono , Kenya , ran the men's 5000 meters in 13: 06.20 minutes.
September 13 - Paula Fudge , Great Britain , ran the women's 5000 meters in 15: 14.51 minutes.
September 18 - Renaldo Nehemiah , USA , ran the men's 110 meter hurdles in 12.93 seconds.
September 19 - Jelena Sipatowa , Soviet Union , ran the women's 10,000 meters in 32: 17.19 minutes.
December 6 - Robert de Castella , Australia , ran the men's marathon in 2:08:18 hours.

In 1981, the Formula TT consists of several races for the third time, namely the Isle of Man TT and the Ulster Grand Prix . The driver who collects the most points in both races wins the world title.

In the TT-F2 class, British rider Tony Rutter becomes world champion in a Ducati . His compatriots Phil Odlin ( Honda ) and Charlie Williams ( Yamaha ) are second and third.

In the TT-F3 class, Australian Barry Smith wins the world title on a Yamaha . He prevails against the British Denis Casement and Chris Raybon (both also Yamaha).

Table tennis world championship 1981 April 14th to 26th in Novi Sad (Yugoslavia)
European League
- February 12: Hamburg: D. - USSR 6: 1 (women + men)
- March 12th: Nachod: D. - CSSR 1: 6 (women + men)
- October 7: Västerås: D. - Sweden 1: 6 (women + men)
- October 23: Saarlouis: D. - England 5: 2 (women + men)
- November 11: Lauingen: D. - Hungary 3: 4 (women + men)