Athletes Who Died in 2001

  • Jan 12 Adhemar da Silva, Brazilian triple jumper (Olympic golds 1952, 56), dies at 73
  • Jan 12 Affirmed, American racehorse (b. 1975)
  • Jan 22 Tommie Agee, American baseball player (b. 1942)
  • Jan 25 Margaret Scriven, English tennis player (French C'ships 1933-34), dies at 88
  • Jan 26 Al McGuire, American basketball coach (Marquette), dies at 72
  • Jan 28 Curt Blefary, American baseball player, dies at 57
  • Feb 4 Pankaj Roy, Indian cricket batsman (45 Tests, 5 x 100, HS 173; WR opening partnership [Vinoo Mankad] 413; Bengal), dies at 72
  • Feb 16 Bob Buhl, American baseball pitcher (MLB All-Star 1960, 60²; World Series 1957 Milwaukee Braves; Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies), dies at 72
  • Feb 17 Bob Geary, Canadian football player and manager (b. 1933)

Dale Earnhardt (1951-2001)

Feb 18 American auto racer (7 NASCAR Winston Cup Series championships), dies in crash during Daytona 500 at 49

  • Feb 18 Eddie Mathews, American Baseball HOF third baseman (512 career HRs; 12 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1957, 68; Boston/Milwaukee Braves) and manager (Atlanta Braves 1972-74), dies from pneumonia at 69
  • Feb 20 Bill Rigney, American baseball infielder (MLB All Star 1948; NY Giants) and manager (NY/SF Giants; LA Angels; Minnesota Twins), dies at 83

Donald Bradman (1908-2001)

Feb 25 Australian cricket batsman and captain (52 Tests; 6,996 runs @ WR 99.94 average; HS 334; 29 x 100s), dies of pneumonia at 92

  • Mar 16 Bob Wollek, French race car driver (b. 1943)
  • Mar 17 Zinaida Voronina, Russian and Soviet gymnast (1968 Olympics: 4 medals including 1 gold), dies at 53
  • Mar 20 Luis Alvarado, Puerto Rican baseball player (b. 1949)
  • Mar 28 Jim Benton, American football end (All Pro 1945, 46; NFL 1940s All-Decade Team; Cleveland/LA Rams, Chicago Bears; first to rush 300+ yards 1945), dies at 84
  • Apr 1 Jo-Jo Moore, American baseball left fielder (MLB All Star 1934–38, 40; World Series 1933; NY Giants), dies at 92

Willie Stargell (1940-2001)

Apr 9 American Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder/1st baseman (7 x MLB All Star; World Series 1971, 79 [MVP]; Pittsburgh Pirates), dies from a stroke at 61

  • Apr 14 Jim Baxter, Scottish footballer (b. 1939)
  • Apr 16 Alec Stock, English football manager (b. 1917)
  • Apr 20 Bert Sutcliffe, New Zealand cricket batsman (42 Tests, 5 x 100s, TS 230no; Otago CA), dies at 77
  • Apr 25 Michele Alboreto, Italian race car driver (b. 1956)
  • Apr 25 Michele Alboretto, Italian auto racer (F1 World C'ship 1985 runner-up Ferrari; 24 Hours of Le Mans 1997; 12 Hours of Sebring 2001), dies in a testing accident at 44
  • May 7 Simon Slåttvik, Norwegian cross country skier (Olympic gold 18 km individual 1952), dies at 83
  • May 12 Didi (Waldyr Pereira), Brazilian soccer midfielder (68 caps; Fluminense), dies at 72
  • May 14 Gil Langley, Australian cricketer (Australian wicket-keeper 1951-56), dies at 81
  • May 26 Vittorio Brambilla, Italian racing driver (b. 1937)
  • May 27 Victor Kermit Kiam II, American businessman (Remington shavers) and NFL owner (New England Patriots 1988–91), dies at 74
  • Jun 2 Joey Maxim, American boxer (World Light Heavyweight Champion 1950-52), dies from effects of a stroke at 79
  • Jun 10 John McKay, American College Football HOF coach (4 x NCAA C'ship 1962, 67, 72, 74 ; 5 x Rose Bowl USC; NFL: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1976-84), dies at 77
  • Jun 26 Soccer (dog actor) (b. 1988)
  • Jul 4 Keenan Milton, Professional Skater (b. 1974)
  • Jul 7 Maria Gorokhovskaya, Russian gymnast (equal record 7 x Olympic medals, Soviet Union 1952; 2 x gold [team, all-round], 5 x silver), dies at 79
  • Jul 8 Christl Haas, Austrian downhill skier (Olympic gold 1964), dies at 57
  • Jul 8 Ernst Baier, German figure skater (Olympic gold 1936), dies at 95
  • Jul 18 Roy Gilchrist, West Indian cricket fast bowler (13 Tests, 57 wickets; Jamaica, Hyderabad), dies of Parkinson's disease at 67
  • Aug 1 Korey Stringer, American NFL football tackle, 1995-2000 (Minnesota Vikings), dies of complications from heat stroke at 27
  • Aug 10 Lou Boudreau, American Baseball HOF shortstop (8 × MLB All-Star; World Series & AL MVP 1948; AL batting champion 1944; Cleveland Indians) and manager (Cleveland, Boston RS, KC A's, Chicago Cubs), dies at 84
  • Aug 13 Otto Stuppacher, Austrian racing driver, dies at 54
  • Aug 15 Richard Chelimo, Kenyan athlete (b. 1972)
  • Aug 21 Calum MacKay, Canadian NHL ice hockey player, 1947-55 (Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens), dies at 74
  • Aug 22 Tatyana Averina, Russian speed skater 1K, 3K (Olympic gold 1976), dies at 61
  • Aug 24 Hank Sauer, American baseball left fielder (NL MVP, HR leader, RBI leader 1952; MLB All Star 1950, 52; Chicago Cubs), dies from a heart attack at 84
  • Aug 25 Carl Brewer, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1938)
  • Aug 25 Ken Tyrrell, English race driver and founder of Tyrrell Racing, dies at 77
  • Sep 1 Brian Moore, British sports commentator (BBC Radio, London Weekend Television 'The Big Match'), dies of heart failure at 69
  • Sep 5 Heywood Hale Broun, American TV commentator and sports correspondent, dies at 83

Jaroslav Drobný (1921-2001)

Sep 13 Czech ice hockey player (Olympic silver 1948) and tennis player (Wimbledon 1954, French Open 1951-52), dies of a stroke at 79

  • Sep 17 Barry Shepherd, Australian cricket batsman (9 Tests, 5 x 50s; West Australia CA), dies at 64
  • Sep 23 Ron Hewitt, Welsh footballer (b. 1928)
  • Sep 29 Mabel Fairbanks, Seminole-African American figure skater and coach (US Figure Skating Hall of Fame), dies at 85 [1]
  • Oct 5 Peter Burge, Australian cricket batsman (42 Tests, 4 x 100, HS 181; Queensland CA), dies of a heart attack at 69
  • Oct 6 Arne Harris, American television sports director, dies at 67
  • Oct 7 Alf Gover, English cricket fast bowler (4 Tests; Surrey CCC) and coach (Frank Tyson, Viv Richards, Andy Roberts, Ian Bishop; Surrey), dies at 93
  • Oct 7 Christopher Adams, British-born pro wrestler and judoka (b. 1955)
  • Oct 17 Micheline Ostermeyer, French athlete (Olympic gold shot put, discus; bronze high jump 1948), dies at 78
  • Oct 22 Helmut Krackowizer, Austrian motorcycle racer and journalist ("Motorcycle Sport", "The History of Famous Makes of Motorcycle"), dies from a heart attack at 80
  • Oct 23 Daniel Wildenstein, French art dealer and racehorse owner (4 x winner Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe; 6 x France's leading owner), dies at 84
  • Oct 31 Art Wall Jr, American golfer (Masters 1959), dies of respiratory failure at 77
  • Nov 1 Warren Amling, American College Football Hall of Fame guard (Ohio State), dies at 76
  • Nov 9 Denis Atkinson, West Indian cricketer (WI all-rounder, 219 v Australia 1955), dies at 75
  • Nov 12 Tony Miles, English chess player (first Englishman to earn the Grandmaster title), dies from heaart failure at 46
  • Nov 14 Juan Carlos Lorenzo, Argentine soccer forward (Boca Juniors, Sampdoria, Atlético Madrid) and manager (Argentina, Boca Juniors, Lazio, Roma), dies at 79
  • Nov 17 Billy Vessels, American College Football Hall of Fame halfback (Heisman Trophy 1952, University of Oklahoma), dies at 70
  • Nov 23 Bo Belinsky, American baseball pitcher (no-hitter 1962; LA Angels), dies from bladder cancer at 64

Peter Blake (1948-2001)

Dec 5 New Zealand yachtsman (Whitbread Round the World Race 1989-90; America's Cup 1995, 2000) and Special Envoy UN Environment Program, killed by pirates on the Amazon River at 53

  • Dec 6 Charles McClendon, Hall of Fame college football coach (b. 1923)
  • Dec 6 Robert Camac, American horse trainer, murdered by a family member at 61
  • Dec 21 Dick Schaap, American Emmy Award-winning sportscaster, journalist, and author (Bo Knows Bo: Instant Replay), dies from complications during hip replacement surgery at 67