- Jan 1 Billy Joe Patton, American golfer (Masters 1954 3rd; Walker Cup captain 1969), dies at 88
- Jan 4 Coen Moulijn, Dutch footballer (b. 1937)
- Jan 6 Uche Okafor, Nigerian footballer (b. 1967)
- Jan 7 Derek Gardner, British Formula 1 car designer (b. 1931)
- Jan 8 Thorbjørn Svenssen, Norwegian footballer (b. 1924)
- Jan 10 Cookie Gilchrist, American football fullback (AFL All Star 1962-65; AFL MVP 1962; CFL All Star 1956-60), dies of chronic traumatic encephalopathy at 75
- Jan 12 Clemar Bucci, Argentine racing driver, dies at 90
- Jan 15 Nat Lofthouse, English Footballer (b. 1925)
- Feb 3 Ron Piché, Quebec baseball player (Milwaukee Braves), dies at 75
- Feb 4 Woodie Fryman, American baseball player, dies at 70
- Feb 8 Tony Malinosky, American baseball player (b. 1909)
- Feb 10 Trevor Bailey, English cricket all-rounder, writer and broadcaster (61 Tests, top score 134, 132 wickets; BBC), dies in a fire in his retirement flat at 87
- Feb 11 Tom Carnegie, American sports announcer (b. 1919)
- Feb 11 Chuck Tanner, American baseball player (Pittsburgh Pirates), dies at 82
- Feb 12 Mato Damjanović, Croatian chess grandmaster (b. 1927)
- Feb 19 Ollie Matson, Pro/College Football Hall of Fame halfback (First-team All-Pro 1952, 54–59; Pro Bowl 1952, 54–58; NFL 1950s All Decade Team), dies of dementia at 80
- Feb 20 Betty Hicks, American golfer, author (US Open runner-up 1948, 54), dies of Alzheimer's disease at 90
- Feb 27 Duke Snider, American Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder (8 x MLB All Star; World Series 1955, 59; Brooklyn / LA Dodgers), dies at 84
- Mar 9 Inge Sørensen, Danish swimmer (youngest known female Olympic Games medalist in an individual event-Olympic 1936 bronze), dies at 86
- Mar 15 Marty Marion, American baseball shortstop and manager (MLB All-Star 1943–50; NL MVP 1944; St. Louis Cardinals), dies from a heart attack at 93
- Mar 21 Gerd Klier, German footballer (b. 1944)
- Mar 21 Ladislav Novák, Czech footballer (b. 1931)
- Mar 21 Nikolai Adrianov, Soviet-Russian gymnast (Olympic-4 gold/2 silver/bronze-1976), dies at 58
- Apr 1 Lou Gorman, American baseball executive (general manager Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox), dies at 82
- Apr 2 Larry Finch, American college basketball coach (University of Memphis 1986-97), dies at 60
- Apr 10 Mikhail Rusyayev, Russian footballer (b. 1964)
- Apr 10 Homer Smith, American football coach (b. 1931)
- Apr 16 Gerry Alexander, West Indian cricket wicket-keeper (25 Tests, top score 108, 90 dismissals), dies at 82
- Apr 18 Olubayo Adefemi, Nigerian footballer, dies at 25
- Apr 18 Mason Rudolph, American golfer (Ryder Cup 1971; PGA C'ship 1973 3rd), dies at 76
- Apr 19 Grete Waitz, Norwegian long distance athlete (9 x NYC Marathon titles; World C'ship gold 1983; 5 x gold World Cross Country; WR x 4), dies of cancer at 57
- Apr 22 Wiel Coerver, Dutch soccer manager (developer of Coerver Method, football coaching technique), dies of pneumonia at 86
- Apr 30 Emilio Navarro, Puerto Rican baseball player, dies at 105
- May 1 Ted Lowe, English snooker commentator (Pot Black, BBC), dies at 90
- May 1 Henry Cooper, English boxer (British, European, C'wealth heavyweight champion; famous defeats to Muhammad Ali 1963, 66), dies of heart failure at 76
- May 3 Sergo Kotrikadze, Georgian footballer (b. 1936)
- May 5 Yosef Merimovich, Israeli football player and manager (b. 1924)
Seve Ballesteros
May 7 Seve Ballesteros, Spanish golfer (British Open 1979, 84, 88, US Masters 1980, 83), dies of brain cancer at 54
Seve Ballesteros
Harmon Killebrew
May 17 Harmon Killebrew, American baseball player (Minnesota Twins), dies at 74
Harmon Killebrew
- May 25 Paul Splittorff, American MLB pitcher and broadcaster (KC Royals), dies of oral cancer at 64
- May 25 Terry Jenner, Australian cricketer (b. 1944)
- May 27 Margo Dydek, Polish basketball player (b. 1974)
- May 29 William "Bill" Roycroft, Australian equestrian 3 day (Olympic bronze 1976), dies at 96
- May 31 Andy Robustelli, American NFL defensive end (LA Rams, NY Giants), dies at 85
- Jun 7 Paul Dickson, American football player and coach (b. 1937)
- Jun 9 Mike Mitchell, American basketball small forward (NBA All Star 1981; Italian League top scorer 1998), dies from cancer at 55
Kurt Nielsen
Jun 11 Kurt Nielsen, Danish tennis player, (Wimbledon 1953, 55 runner-up), dies at 80
Kurt Nielsen
- Jun 23 Dennis Marshall, Costa Rican footballer (b. 1985)
- Jun 24 Tomislav Ivić, Croatian football manager (b. 1933)
- Jun 27 Mike Doyle, English former footballer (b. 1946)
- Jun 27 Betty Callaway, figure skating trainer (coached Torvill and Dean), dies at 83
- Jun 30 Barry Bremen, American sports imposter and business man (b. 1947)
- Jul 6 John Mackey, American NFL tight end (Baltimore Colts, San Diego Chargers), dies at 69
- Jul 7 Dick Williams, American Baseball Hall of Fame utility (Brooklyn Dodgers) and manager (World Series 1972, 73; Oakland A's), dies at 82
- Jul 9 Don Ackerman, American basketball player (b. 1930)
- Jul 13 Allan Jeans, Australian football player and coach (b. 1933)
- Jul 16 Forrest Blue, American football player (b. 1944)
- Jul 22 Cees de Wolf, Dutch footballer (b. 1945)
- Aug 3 Bubba Smith, American College Football Hall of Fame defensive end (Michigan State; Pro Bowl 1970, 71; First Team All Pro 1971; Super Bowl 1971; Baltimore Colts) and actor (Police Academy), dies of acute drug intoxication and heart disease at 66
- Aug 4 Naoki Matsuda, Japanese Soccer player (b. 1977)
- Aug 24 Mike Flanagan, American baseball pitcher (b. 1951)
- Aug 28 Bernie Gallacher, British footballer (Aston Villa) (b. 1967)
- Aug 31 Wade Belak, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1976)
- Sep 4 Lee Roy Selmon, American football player (b. 1954)
- Sep 7 Ruslan Salei, Belarusian ice hockey defenceman (917 NHL games; 48 internationals), dies in Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash at 36
- Sep 7 Brad McCrimmon, Canadian NHL defenseman, 1979-97 (Philadelphia Flyers; Calgary Flames and 4 others), dies as head coach of KHL Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, along with most of the team, in a plane crash enroute to his first game, at 52
- Sep 11 Christian Bakkerud, Danish racing driver (b. 1984)
- Sep 12 Alexander Galimov, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1985)
- Sep 27 Dave Hill, American golfer (13 PGA Tour titles), dies of emphysema at 74
- Oct 1 Sven Tumba, Swedish ice hockey center, football winger, golfer, golf course designer, dies of a hip infection at 80
- Oct 1 Johnny Schmitz, American baseball pitcher (MLB All-Star 1946, 48; NL saves leader 1946), dies at 90
- Oct 9 Pavel Karelin, Russian ski jumper (b. 1989)
- Oct 15 Elizabeth "Betty" Driver, British singer and actress (Coronation Street, Pardon the Expression), dies from pneumonia at 91
- Oct 16 Dan Wheldon, English auto racer (b. 1978)
- Oct 23 Marco Simoncelli, Italian motorcycle racer (250cc World Championship 2008), dies in a track accident at 24
- Oct 31 Flórián Albert, Hungarian footballer (European Footballer of the Year 1967), dies at 70
- Nov 3 Matty Alou, Dominican baseball outfielder (NL batting champion 1966; MLB All-Star 1968-69), dies of diabetes complications at 72
Joe Frazier
Nov 7 Joe Frazier, American boxer (Olympic gold heavyweight 1964; undisputed world heavyweight champion 1970-73), dies of liver cancer at 67
Joe Frazier
- Nov 8 Ed Macauley, American Basketball Hall of Fame center (7-time NBA All Star), dies of Alzheimer’s disease at 83
- Nov 9 Roger Christian, American ice hockey left wing (Olympic gold 1960; Christian Brother's Hockey Sticks), dies at 75
- Nov 12 Peter Roebuck, English cricketer and journalist, dies at 55
- Nov 17 Kurt Budke, American basketball coach (b. 1961)
- Nov 18 Walt Hazzard, American basketball player (Olympic gold 1964), dies at 69
- Nov 19 Basil D'Oliveira, English cricket all-rounder (44 Tests, 2,484 @ 40.06, 47 wickets), dies form Parkinson's disease at 80
- Nov 23 Jim Rathmann, American auto racer (Indianapolis 500 1960; Race of Two Worlds at Monza 1958), dies after a seizure at 83
- Nov 24 Tatyana Shchelkanova, Soviet long jumper (Olympic bronze 1964), dies at 74
- Nov 27 Gary Speed, Welsh footballer and Wales national football team manager, dies at 42
- Dec 1 Ragnhild Hveger, Danish swimmer (Olympic silver 400m freestyle 1936; 44 world records 1938-56), dies at 90
- Dec 3 Sam Loxton, Australian cricket batsman (12 Tests, top score 101; National team selector 1970-81), dies at 90
- Dec 4 Sócrates [Socrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Sousa Vieira de Oliveira], Brazilian soccer midfielder and manager (60 caps, 22 goals Brazil; Corinthians), dies of septic shock at 57
- Dec 5 Peter Gethin, British racing driver (b. 1940)
- Dec 5 Gennady Logofet, Russian footballer (b. 1942)
- Dec 15 Andy Carey, third baseman for 1950s New York Yankees, dies at 80
- Dec 22 Bettye Danoff, American golfer (co-founder LPGA Tour), dies at 88