- 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 marathon runner (world record holder; 9-time NYC Marathon champion), 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
- May 8 Lionel Rose, Australian boxer (1st Indigenous Australian to win a world title), dies at 62
- May 9 Wouter Weylandt, Belgian cyclist, dies at 26
- May 10 Michael Baze, American horse racing jockey (b. 1987)
- May 13 Derek Boogaard, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1982)
- May 17 Harmon Killebrew, American baseball player (Minnesota Twins), dies at 74
- 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 7 Dick Williams, American baseball player and manager (including Seattle 1986-87), 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 football player and actor (b. 1945)
- 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 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 (b. 1941)
- 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, Olympic Heavyweight Boxer, 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