Monday, 13th February
The history maker of Basketball
LeBron James, the American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers, has recently become the leading scorer in National Basketball Association history. James overtook the record of 38,387 points held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who retired in 1989. James also ranks fourth in career assists. So far James has played in ten NBA Finals and has won four of them with three different teams. In other basketball news, Spanish legend Pau Gasol has been named the Fédération Internationale de Basketball Global Ambassador for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.
On Tuesday the International Sport Shooting Association World Cup in Pistol and Rifle concluded in Jakarta, Indonesia. Kazakhstan topped the medals table with a total of 11, with India and Hungary completing the podium. The World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold continued last week with the Copernicus Cup in Toruń, Poland. Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay set a time of 4:16.16 in the indoor mile, storming to second on the world all-time list. After setting a world indoor record over 500m in Boston last weekend, Dutch star Femke Bol continued her form by clocking 49.96 for 400m and 22.87 for 200m, setting two Dutch records at an Indoor Tour Silver meeting in Moselle, Germany. At the Indoor Tour Gold meeting in New York over the weekend, American middle-distance runner Yared Nuguse ran the second-fastest indoor mile in history. Over to the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, the hosts made history by winning their first title through distance runner Caroline Kipkirui in the 3000m.
Ski mountaineering featured at Morgins in Switzerland at the beginning of last week. Senior Sprint World Cup titles went to Emily Harrop (FRA) and Oriol Cardona Coll (ESP). Axelle Gachet Mollaret (FRA) and Remi Bonnet (SUI) claimed gold in the Vertical and Individual gold. The World Surf League Championship Tour is currently in O'ahu in Hawaii for event 2 of the season. Australia's Jack Robinson and local star Carissa Moore won event 1 at the Pipeline also held in O'ahu.
Bobsleigh and Skeleton fans headed to Innsbruck in Austria and Lillehammer in Norway over the weekend. Kimberley Bos (NED) and Matt Weston (GBR) won the Skeleton titles, while victory in the Women's Monobob was claimed by Lisa Buckwitz (GER). Weston also set a track record to reach his fourth world cup win. Francesco Friedrich (GER) steered his team to the 4-man Bobsleigh title, with Laura Nolte (GER) victorious in the 2-woman Bobsleigh. Friedrich with his team of Candy Bauer, Alexander Schüller, and Thorsten Margis have now recorded their 27th World Cup victory and their fifth consecutive overall win of the season. Hermann Ellmauer (AUT) and Corrie Mapp (GBR) won the respective Para Bobsleigh titles in Lillehammer.
Welshman Gerwyn Price won night two of the Professional Darts Corporation Premier League earlier in the week in Cardiff. Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA) sealed the win in Hyderabad, India, in Round 4 of the FIA Formula E World Championship. Pascal Wehrlein (GER) leads the overall standings on 80 points. Diego Elias (PER) continues his amazing form in the Professional Squash Association World Tour by winning the Pittsburgh Open, while Joelle King (NZL) won in Detroit. Dutch club PKC/Vertom has claimed the IKF Korfball Champions League Final beating compatriots Fortuna/Delta Logistiek by 19-10. Aston Wade (ENG) is the new 2023 U21 Golf Croquet World Champion that was hosted by Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.
The ski resort Courchevel Meribel in France has the huge task of hosting the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships that began last Monday. Frederica Brignone (ITA) and Alexis Pinturault (FRA) are the Alpine Combined champions. Super G gold has gone to Marta Bassino (ITA) and James Crawford (CAN). Switzerland reigned in the Downhill through Jasmine Flury and Marco Odermatt. This week we can look forward to Parallel, Giant Slalom, and Slalom. Women's Ski Jumping featured at Hinzenbach, Austria, with World Cup titles claimed by local stars Eva Pinkelnig and Chiara Kreuzer. Lake Placid in New York State hosted the Men's Ski Jumping World Cup. Andreas Wellinger (GER) and Halvor Egner Granerud (NOR) won gold titles, while Poland was victorious in the team event.
Chiesa in Valmalenco, Italy, hosted Dual Moguls with titles going to Perrine Laffont (FRA) and Ikuma Horishima (JPN). Nordic Combined featured in Schonach in Germany with Gundersen Normal Hill HS100 as the event. The 5km women's gold went to Gyda Westvold Hansen (NOR) on both days, with fellow countryman Jens Luraas Oftebro winning the 10km on Saturday and Johannes Lamparter (AUT) victorious on Sunday. The only Snowboard World Cup took place at Calgary over the weekend. Halfpipe champions are Mitsuki Ono (JPN) and Ruka Hirano (JPN, while Slopestyle gold medals were claimed by Julia Marino (USA) and Darcy Sharpe (CAN).
Oberhof in Germany has been the centre of attention for biathlon fans at the IBU World Championships Biathlon. We still have a week of competitions to look out for, but there are some results in so far. Denis Herrmann-Wick (GER) won Women's Sprint gold, while the unstoppable Johannes Thingnes Boe (NOR) lead a podium sweep for his nation in the Men's Sprint. Boe then continued his great form to win Pursuit gold, while Julia Simon (FRA) claimed the women's title.
Cooper Webb (450SX) and Hunter Lawrence (250SX) reigned in Tampa, Florida, in Round 6 of the AMA Supercross Championship. In further motor sport news, Estonia's Ott Tänak won Rally Sweden, the second round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Skateboarding sensation and 14-year-old Sky Brown (GBR) is the Women’s WST Park World Champion held in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The Men's World Champion is Jagger Eaton (USA). Lin Shidong, the 17-year-old Chinese sensation, has won his first World Table Tennis Single's title held in Jordanian capital Amman. Pakistan and Malaysia have been crowned the Men’s and Women’s Asian Squash Junior Team champions held in Chennai, India.
Grenchen in Switzerland hosted the 2023 UEC Track Elite European Championships. Full results can be found here: https://bit.ly/3YLV8R2 Further cycling news is that Elisa Longo Borghini (ITA) was victorious at the UAE Tour, the next stage of the UCI Women's WorldTour. Over to Spain where the Clasica de Almeira was the next UCI ProSeries race with Matteo Moscheti (ITA) claiming victory.
At the third International Orienteering Federation Ski World Cup in Beitostølen, Norway, Jørgen Baklid (NOR) and Tove Alexandersson (SWE) won Pursuit gold. Baklid won his second gold in the Sprint, while the women's title went to Linda Lindkvist (SWE). Winterberg in Germany was the location for the FIL Luge World Cup and Sprint World Cup. Julia Taubitz (GER) and Max Langenhan (GER) won the single seater titles. Germany's Jessica Dagenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal are the Ladies' Doubles champions, with the Men's Doubles won by fellow countryman Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt. Both Taubitz and Langenhan won the Sprint Singles gold. Anda Upite and Sanija Ozolina (LAT) won the Sprint Women's Doubles, while Wendl and Arlt won their second gold in the Sprint Men's Doubles.
Konstantin Gorodilov and Polina Figurenko (EST) won the World DanceSport Federation World Open in Adult Latin hosted by Antwerp, Belgium. Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara (JPN) made history by claiming the first ISU Championship title in Pair Skating for their nation at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships 2023 in Colorado Springs, USA. In further ice skating news, Inzell in Germany hosted the ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships. Full results can be found here: https://bit.ly/3lur6D1
The Kansas City Chiefs became NFL champions for the second time in four years after fighting back to claim a 38-35 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Earlier in the week, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was named as the National Football League's Most Valuable Player for the 2022 season, the second time he has won the prestigious award.
Until next time, have a great week in sport.