By Aadi Nair
Nov 29 (Reuters) – In a year brimming with sporting drama, seasoned stars as well as fearless newcomers shared the spotlight, and Reuters photographers were there at every big event to capture the defining moments as they happened.
Paris St Germain finally scaled the summit of European soccer, winning a long-awaited first Champions League crown by demolishing Inter Milan 5-0 in the final and vindicating Qatar Sports Investments’ 14-year quest for continental dominance.
However, their dream of global supremacy faltered at FIFA’s inaugural 32-team Club World Cup, where Chelsea snatched glory in the final of a tournament that offered a tantalising preview of next year’s World Cup in North America.
Liverpool savoured a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title, but their joy turned to heartbreak months later following the death of their Portuguese forward Diogo Jota in a car crash.
England’s Lionesses secured a nail-biting win over Spain to capture their second consecutive Women’s Euros title.
In tennis, Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz continued their thrilling rivalry and split the men’s Grand Slams once again, while the women’s major titles were divided between Madison Keys, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka.
High-flying Swede Armand Duplantis and lightning-quick American Melissa Jefferson-Wooden stole the show at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, and Canadian Summer McIntosh won four golds at swimming’s world championships in Singapore.
In the world of motorsports, McLaren’s Lando Norris looks poised to break Max Verstappen’s stranglehold on Formula One and put an end to the Red Bull driver’s run of four consecutive championships.
Ducati’s Marc Marquez completed one of MotoGP’s greatest comebacks by clinching his seventh championship and his first since 2019, reaping the rewards after persevering through six punishing years that featured more than 100 crashes and four operations.
In golf, Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy claimed a career slam with a stunning Masters triumph, while South Africa’s cricketers won their first major title at the World Test Championship to discard their reputation for “choking” in the knockout rounds of the sport’s biggest events.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair, editing by Peter Rutherford)
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