Monday, 19th September
A Week of Champions and Championships
Motorcycling fans had the opportunity over the weekend to witness the crowning of several world champions. Poland's Bartosz Zmarzlik had been leading the overall standings of the FIM Speedway Grand Prix for some time, and on Saturday secured maximum points in round 9 to claim the season with one race weekend still to complete.
The 100th-anniversary Bol d’Or 24 hours at the Circuit Paul Ricard in France was the final leg of the FIM Endurance World Championship. Japanese squad F.C.C. TSR Honda France were one of five teams in with a chance to win the championship on Sunday. They prevailed as reliability affected all four their rivals.
Leading to the more technical sport of trial motorcycling, Spain's Toni Bou (TrialGP), Norway's Sondre Haga (Trial2), Great Britain's Harry Hemingway (Trial3), Great Britain's Emma Bristow (TrialGP Women), and the Czech Republic's Denise Pechakova (Trial2 Women) were all crowned champions after the final round of the FIM Trial World Championship.
The next champions come from the FIM Sidecarcross World Championship as Dutch rider Etienne Bax and passenger Ondřej Čermák of the Czech Republic narrowly claimed the lead with only four points to spare.
Twenty-six nations sent their kata specialists to Krakow, Poland, to attend the 2022 World Championships Kata. Close to 250 judoka attended the event with top honours going to Romania's Alina Zaharia and Alina Cheru (senior juo-kata), Colombia's Glatenferd Escobar and Miguel Bermudez (senior nage-no-kata), the Netherland's Tycho Van Der Werff and David Lefevere (senior katame-no-kata), and France's Victoria Kraska and Dylan Meddour (junior nage-no-kata).
The World Surf League Championship Tour Finals completed recently at Lower Trestles, San Clemente, California. Brazil's Filipe Toledo and Australia's Stephanie Gilmore are the undisputed 2022 champions. The spectacular scenery around Mahé, Seychelles, hosted the FINA World Junior Open Water Swimming Championships 2022. Six categories including the mixed team events, were all dominated by USA and Hungary. Cold Hawaii, a popular windsurfing spot off Denmark's coast, hosted the Professional Windsurfing Association Youth Championships. World titles went to Spain's Maria Morales Navarro (girls U17), Spain's Isabel Trivino Delgado (girls U20), Germany's Peter Gobisch (boys U15), Denmark's Tobias Bjornaa (boys U17), and Spain's Liam Dunkerbeck (boys U20).
Portugal defeated Spain on penalties to claim the Futsal Finalissima 2022, an international futsal championship organised by the governing bodies UEFA and CONMEBOL. New Zealand's Samuel Gaze and France's Pauline Ferrand Prevot are the elite men's and women's UCI MTB Marathon World Champions. The International Association of Ultra Runners held the 24 hour European Championships on Sunday. Individual winners are Poland's Patrycja Bereznowska and Lithuania's Aleksandr Sorokin, with Poland claiming both team events.
Mansoor Al Mansoor of the United Arab Emirates is the UIM F2 World Champion, one of the premier powerboating championships. Thirty gold medals were contested at the United World Wrestling World Championships. The USA top the table in Freestyle, Serbia took Greco-Roman, while Women's Wrestling was dominated by Japan. Davis Cup completed over the weekend to determine the quarter-finals to be played on the 24-25 November. Italy play USA, Germany play Canada, Spain play Croatia, and Netherlands play Australia. Chase Elliott leads the standings as the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series enters the Round of 12. Gerwyn Price tasted glory by winning the Jack's World Series of Darts Finals.
Egypt dominated the UIPM 2022 Modern Pentathlon Youth World Championships with eight gold medals. Italy's Sofia Raffaeli was the star at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships winning gold medals in four disciplines, including All-Around. Bulgaria won the Group All-Around and the 3 Ribbons & 2 Balls. Italy claimed the 5 Hoops gold. Japan made history by winning the Wheelchair Basketball U23 World Championships. In basketball, Spain returned to the top of Europe by beating France 88-76 to win the FIBA Eurobasket 2022 crown.
Boxing news is that Saul Alvarez retained his undisputed super-middleweight world title on Saturday, beating Gennady Golovkin in an epic fight in Las Vegas. England women have completed a record 25 consecutive rugby union test wins after beating Wales 73-7 earlier in the week. Finally, French motorcycle drag racing legend Erik Teboul retired in style by setting a record for the fastest bike in the world. A quarter mile run time of 4.976 seconds was set at Santa Pod, at a truly ludicrous speed of 290.51 miles per hour.
Until next time, have a great week in sport.