- Jan 3 Derek Sealy, West Indian cricket batsman (11 Tests; youngest West Indian Test player 17:122), dies at 69
- Jan 7 Bert Oosterhuis, Dutch motor racer (Paris-Dakar), dies in a race crash at 41
- Jan 15 Red Smith, American sportscaster and columnist (Pulitzer 1976, Fight Talk), dies at 76
- Jan 20 Marc Demeyer, Belgian road racing cyclist (Paris-Brussels 1974), dies at 31
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