Grand National the run-in and, two strides from the finishing post, he pipped the tiring Crisp to win by three-quarters of a length in what is arguably the most memorable Grand National of all time. Red Rum finished in 9 minutes 1.9 seconds, taking 18.3 seconds off the previous record for the National which had been set in 1935 by Reynoldstown. His record was to stand for the next seventeen years. Two years before the 1981 Grand National, jockey Bob Champion had been diagnosed with testicular cancer and given only months to live by doctors. But by 1981 he had recovered and
1981 Grand Prix (tennis) Jimmy Connors (USA) 4. José Luis Clerc (Arg) 5. Guillermo Vilas (Arg) 6. Björn Borg (Sue) 7. Roscoe Tanner (USA) 8. Eliot Teltscher (USA) 9. Vitas Gerulaitis (USA) 10. Yannick Noah (Fra) The list of winners and number of singles titles won, alphabetically by last name: The following players won their first title in 1981: 1981 Grand Prix (tennis) The 1981 Volvo Grand Prix was the only men's professional tennis circuit held that year. It consisted of the four Grand Slam tournaments and the Grand Prix tournaments. The World Championship Tennis (WCT) Tour was incorporated into the Grand Prix circuit.