1971 in sports

• Alpine Skiing World Cup
  • Men's overall season champion: Gustav Thöni, Italy
  • Women's overall season champion: Annemarie Pröll, Austria

• January 17 − Super Bowl V: the Baltimore Colts (AFC) won 16–13 over the Dallas Cowboys (NFC)
  • Location: Miami Orange Bowl
  • Attendance: 79,204
  • MVP: Chuck Howley, LB (Dallas)
• 25 December – The Miami Dolphins defeat the Kansas City Chiefs in a divisional playoff game. The double-overtime contest is the longest game in NFL history, and the Chiefs' last home game at Municipal Stadium.
• Orange Bowl (1970 season):
  • The Nebraska Cornhuskers won 17-12 over the Louisiana State Tigers to win the AP Poll national championship after the previous #1 Texas Longhorns lost in the Cotton Bowl and the #2 Ohio State Buckeyes lost in the Rose Bowl.
• 24 October – death of Chuck Hughes, Detroit Lions wide receiver

• 2 January – At the end of a Rangers–Celtic match at Ibrox Park in Glasgow, barriers at Stairway 13 give way under a mass of fans, killing 66 and injuring over 200 others.
• 30 June – death of Georgi Asparuhov (28), Bulgarian international
• Atlético Mineiro wins the first Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
• Arsenal are the English First Division champions
• England – FA Cup – Arsenal won 2–1 over Liverpool to win The Double
• European Championship Cup Final: Ajax – Panathinaikos 2–0

• August – Athletics at the 1971 Pan American Games held in Cali, Colombia
• August – 1971 European Athletics Championships held at Helsinki

• Victorian Football League
  • Hawthorn wins the 75th VFL Premiership (Hawthorn 12.10 (82) d St Kilda 11.9 (75))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Ian Stewart (Richmond)
• SANFL
  • North Adelaide 10.19 (79) defeated Port Adelaide 9.5 (59)

• 1971 Bandy World Championship is held in Sweden and won by  Soviet Union.

• World Series – Pittsburgh Pirates won 4 games to 3 over the Baltimore Orioles. Game four, played on 13 October at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, was the first night game in World Series history.

• NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship –
  • UCLA wins 68–62 over Villanova
  • Indiana University Hires Bob Knight as their head basketball coach.
• NBA Finals –
  • Milwaukee Bucks win 4 games to 0 over the Baltimore Bullets
• 1971 ABA Finals –
  • Utah Stars defeat Kentucky Colonels 4 games to 3; Stars defeat Indiana Pacers in division finals while Colonels defeat Virginia Squires.

• 8 March – Joe Frazier defeats Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden, in the first of three epic bouts between the two, to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.

• Grey Cup – Calgary Stampeders won 14–11 over the Toronto Argonauts
• Vanier Cup – Western Ontario Mustangs won 15–14 over the Alberta Golden Bears

• 5 January, Melbourne – first-ever One Day International is played after a Test match is abandoned because of rain, Australia beating England by 5 wickets.

• Giro d'Italia won by Gösta Pettersson of Sweden
• Tour de France – Eddy Merckx of Belgium
• UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race – Eddy Merckx of Belgium

• Men's World Cup in Barcelona, Spain
  • Gold Medal: Pakistan
  • Silver Medal: Spain
  • Bronze Medal: India
• Pan American Games (Men's Competition) in Cali, Colombia
  • Gold Medal: Argentina
  • Silver Medal: Mexico
  • Bronze Medal: Canada

• World Figure Skating Championships –
  • Men's champion: Ondrej Nepela, Czechoslovakia
  • Ladies' champion: Trixi Schuba, Austria
  • Pair skating champions: Irina Rodnina & Alexei Ulyanov, Soviet Union
  • Ice dancing champions: Lyudmila Pakhomova & Alexandr Gorshkov, Soviet Union

Men's professional

• PGA Championship – Jack Nicklaus
• Masters Tournament – Charles Coody
• U.S. Open – Lee Trevino
• British Open – Lee Trevino
• PGA Tour money leader – Jack Nicklaus – $244,491
• Ryder Cup – United States won 18½ to 13½ over Britain in team golf

Men's amateur

• British Amateur – Steve Melnyk
• U.S. Amateur – Gary Cowan

Women's professional

• LPGA Championship – Kathy Whitworth
• U.S. Women's Open – JoAnne Carner – this win made her the first person ever to win three different USGA individual championship events.
• Titleholders Championship – not played
• LPGA Tour money leader – Kathy Whitworth – $41,181

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
  1. Cane Pace – Albatross
  2. Little Brown Jug – Nansemond
  3. Messenger Stakes – Albatross
• United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
  1. Hambletonian – Speedy Crown
  2. Yonkers Trot – Quick Pride
  3. Kentucky Futurity – Savoir
• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
  • Pacers: Stella Frost
  • Trotters: Geffini

Steeplechases

• Cheltenham Gold Cup – L'Escargot
• Grand National – Specify

Flat races

• Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Silver Knight
• Canada – Queen's Plate won by Kennedy Road
• France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Mill Reef
• Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Irish Ball
• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Brigadier Gerard
  2. The Derby – Mill Reef
  3. St. Leger Stakes – Athens Wood
• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby – Canonero II
  2. Preakness Stakes – Canonero II
  3. Belmont Stakes – Pass Catcher

• 13 April – death of Michel Brière (21), Canadian player with Pittsburgh Penguins
• Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins
• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
• Stanley Cup – Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 3 over the Chicago Black Hawks
• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Czechoslovakia
• NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship – Boston University Terriers defeat University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Golden Gophers 4–2 in Syracuse, New York
• World Hockey Association (WHA) is formed as an alternative North American professional hockey league to the NHL

• Cornell beats Maryland 12–6 to win the first NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship.
• The Brantford Warriors win the Mann Cup.
• The Richmond Roadrunners win the Minto Cup.
• The Victoria McDonalds win the Castrol Cup.

• Sixth Amateur Radio Direction Finding European Championship held in Duisburg, Federal Republic of Germany.

• 18 September – the 1971 NSWRFL season culminates in a Grand Final victory for South Sydney, defeating St George 16–10
• 1971 New Zealand rugby league season
• 1970–71 Northern Rugby Football League season / 1971–72 Northern Rugby Football League season

• 77th Five Nations Championship series is won by Wales who complete the Grand Slam

• World Snooker Championship – John Spencer beats Warren Simpson 37–29

• 27 August – US swimmer Mark Spitz recaptures the world record in the men's 200m butterfly (long course), clocking 2:03.9 at a meet in Houston, Texas.
• 31 August – Four days after Mark Spitz broke the world record in the men's 200m butterfly (long course), West Germany's Hans-Joachim Fassnacht betters the time to 2:03.3 at a meet in Landskrona, Sweden.

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open – Ken Rosewall
  2. French Open – Jan Kodeš
  3. Wimbledon championships – John Newcombe
  4. US Open – Stan Smith
• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open – Margaret Court
  2. French Open – Evonne Goolagong
  3. Wimbledon championships – Evonne Goolagong
  4. US Open – Billie Jean King
• Davis Cup – United States wins 3–2 over Romania in world tennis.
• Sixteen-year-old Chris Evert makes her US Open debut reaching the semifinals where she is defeated by eventual champion Billie Jean King.
• First time in 16 years that Americans won both the men's and women's title at the US Open.

• Men and Women's European Volleyball Championship held in Italy
  • 1971 Men's European Volleyball Championship won by the USSR
  • 1971 Women's European Volleyball Championship won by the USSR
• Volleyball at the 1971 Pan American Games held in Cali, Colombia
  • Men's and women's tournaments both won by Cuba

• Sixth Pan American Games held in Cali, Colombia
• Sixth Mediterranean Games held in Izmir, Turkey

• ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year: Lee Trevino, Golf
• Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Lee Trevino, PGA golf
• Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Evonne Goolagong, Tennis