1861 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

Baseball

National championship * National Association of Base Ball Players champion – Brooklyn Atlantics Events * The National Association establishes the December annual meeting, a change from March, meeting twice during calendar 1860. Membership slips from 59 to 55 clubs and then the outbreak of the American Civil War in the spring sharply cuts both inter-city travel and the number of matches played in greater New York City. Some clubs practically disband.

Boxing

Events * 18 June — Jem Mace defeats Sam Hurst in eight rounds at Medway Island to win the Heavyweight Championship of England. Hurst retires from boxing.Cyber Boxing Zone – Jem Mace
Retrieved on 8 November 2009. *

John C. Heenan John Camel Heenan, also known as the Benicia Boy (2 May 1834 – 28 October 1873) was an American Bare-knuckle boxing, bare-knuckle prize fighter. Though highly regarded, he had only three formal fights in his career, losing two and drawing one. ...

retains the Championship of America but there is no record of any fights involving him in 1861.Cyber Boxing Zone – John C. Heenan
Retrieved on 8 November 2009.

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

Events * 20 October — the first English team to tour Australia sets sail from Liverpool. The team is captained by

H. H. Stephenson Heathfield Harman "HH" Stephenson (3 May 1833 in Esher, Surrey – 17 December 1896 in Uppingham, Rutland) was a famous English cricketer during the game's roundarm era. Stephenson bowled right-arm fast roundarm, batted right-handed and was an ...

. No first-class matches are played. England * Most runs – Robert Carpenter 883 @ 30.44 (HS 106) * Most wickets – Edgar Willsher 87 @ 11.65 (BB 8–27)

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Events * Foundation of Richmond FC and

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...

which are two of the oldest senior rugby union clubs

Golf

Major tournaments * British Open – Tom Morris senior

Horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

Events * The inaugural running of the Melbourne Cup in Australia is won by Archer. The Melbourne Cup is a race for three-year-olds and above, over a distance of 3,200 metres (approximately two miles). England * Grand National – Jealousy *

1,000 Guineas Stakes The 1000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 ...

– Nemesis *

2,000 Guineas Stakes The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) and scheduled to take place each year at ...

– Diophantus * The Derby – Kettledrum * The Oaks – Brown Duchess * St. Leger Stakes – Caller Ou Australia * Melbourne Cup – Archer Canada * Queen's Plate – Wild Irishman

Rowing

The Boat Race * 23 March — Oxford wins the 18th Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race Other events * Harvard–Yale Regatta – ''not contested 1861 to 1863''

References

{{Sports by year 1851 – 1900 Sports by year