1961 in sports

1961 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

American football

NFL Championship: the Green Bay Packers won 37–0 over the New York Giants at Lambeau Field
Rose Bowl (1960 season):
- The Minnesota Golden Gophers lost 17–7 to the Washington Huskies; still voted national champions
The Ohio State Buckeyes boycott a trip to the Rose Bowl the following January resulting in student protests on campus.
AFL Championship – Houston Oilers won 10–3 over the San Diego Chargers

FA Cup final – Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Leicester City. Tottenham also were division 1 champions, making them the first British club to win the double.

Victorian Football League
- August 12: Richmond becomes the only team to fail to kick a goal in a match since 1921, scoring only 0.8 (8) to St. Kilda's 12.19 (91).
- September 23: Hawthorn wins the 65th VFL pennant and its first, beating Footscray 13.16 (94) to 7.9 (51)
- John James wins the 34th Brownlow Medal

The American League expands to 10 teams, adding the Los Angeles Angels and the new Washington Senators. The league schedule is expanded from 154 to 162 games.
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, establishing a record for the longer season. Babe Ruth's record of 60 still stood for the shorter season.
October – World Series – New York Yankees win 4 games to 1 over the Cincinnati Reds. The series MVP is Whitey Ford of the Yankees.

June 3 in Los Angeles – Emile Griffith knocked out Gaspar Ortega in the 12th round to retain the Welterweight Championship

The World Figure Skating Championships in Prague are cancelled after the entire USA team of skaters, officials, leaders and chaperones are killed in a plane crash on 15 February en route to the competition.
Among the dead are:
- Bradley Lord (21), USA men's figure skating champion;
- Maribel Vinson-Owen, USA women's figure skating champion and coach;
- Maribel Yerxa Owen (20), USA women's figure skating champion;
- Laurence Owen (16), USA women's figure skating champion.

Men's professional

Masters Tournament – Gary Player becomes the first international golfer to win the Masters.
U.S. Open – Gene Littler
The Open – Arnold Palmer
PGA Championship – Jerry Barber
PGA Tour money leader – Gary Player – $64,540
Ryder Cup – United States wins 14½ to 9½ over Britain in team golf.

Men's amateur

Women's professional

Steeplechases

Flat races

First European Amateur Radio Direction Finding Championships held in Stockholm, Sweden. This event was the first organized international competition in the sport.

August 13 – USA's Becky Collins breaks the world record in the women's 200m butterfly (long course) during a meet in Philadelphia – 2:32.8.
August 19 – US swimmer Carl Robie takes over the world record in the men's 200m butterfly (long course) from his compatriot Michael Troy at a meet in Los Angeles, clocking 2:12.6.