2022’s Greatest Sporting Moments

This year has been action packed, from the Winter Olympics to the World Cup. There were almost too many epic sporting moments to mention, but we’ve done our best and have compiled a list of our greatest moments below.

Football: World Cup and Women’s Euros

What a year for football.

The Lionesses managed to bring it home with a brilliant Euros campaign led by Sarina Wiegman which saw the squad score 22 goals in just six games. Beth Mead won the Golden Boot and player of the tournament following England’s 2-1 triumph in the finals over eight-time champions Germany.

The World Cup which was hosted by Qatar was spectacular from start to finish, with many upsets and early exits – this World Cup had it all. One of the highlights of the tournament undoubtedly has to be Saudi Arabia’s shock upset over the eventual winners Argentina, overcoming a 1-0 deficit at half time to win 2-1. This was arguably the match which kicked off the stream of upsets throughout.

It would be rude to mention the World Cup without also giving credit to Lionel Messi and the whole Argentinian squad which won the trophy in style with their penalty shootout victory over France. Credit can also be passed to France for putting up a superb fight with the match ending 2-2 at full time and both teams scoring in the last half of extra time to make it 3-3. Kylian Mbappe stole the show with his hat-trick of goals in the final, and was the first player to do so since 1966, also netting himself the golden boot in the process.

Winter Olympics

The year has flown by but let’s not forget a mesmerising Winter Olympics held in Beijing which started off the sporting year in style. Norway went on to win the tournament with a whopping 37 medals, 10 clear of second place, and even more impressively 16 of those medals were gold.

Across the range of events several individuals stood out, including Johannes Strolz who won two golds and one silver in the skiing. Even more incredibly France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet, Norway’s Marte Olsbu Roeiseland and Johannes Thingnes Boe all tied for a new Winter Olympic record having achieved five medals each.

Golf: The 150th Open at St Andrews

A historic 150th Open took place at St Andrews with a fine line-up of participants, all eager to win the landmark occasion. The Open culminated with 28-year-old Cameron Smith edging to victory ahead of Cameron Young by one shot with a spectacular eight-under 64. It was truly a great finish to a momentous event.

NFL: Super Bowl LVI

This year’s Super Bowl had a special feel to it, not only because the half time show had a star-studded line-up, but also the unpredictable nature of the match-up. Although the Los Angeles Rams started off in the lead in Q1, the Cincinnati Bengals eventually found themselves in front at 20-16, before the Rams managed to pull off a spectacular comeback to win 23-20 in a well contested war.

The whole event was gripping from start to finish and the half-time show featuring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar among others will no doubt be replayed for years to come. The MVP award went to the Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp, who put on an impressive performance which saw him catch eight passes and run 92 yards for two touchdowns.

Racing: First female Cheltenham Gold Cup winner

Rachel Blackmore inspired a new, more diverse generation of riders after becoming the first female jockey to win the Gold Cup, sealing the deal on A Plus Tard to win by 15 lengths. Speaking after the race, Blackmore humbly gave credit to the horses she has been able to ride, further inspiring female jockeys around the world with her grace and talent.

Notable mentions

Other notable mentions include the retirement of one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Roger Federer. After a remarkable career, it finally came to an end with Federer having achieved 103 ATP singles titles and 20 Grand Slam singles titles, a record eight of which came at Wimbledon.

Another notable retirement came in the world of tennis with Serena Williams announcing that her career will come to an end. She retires as one of the greatest women’s players of all time, boasting 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most by any player in the Open era of tennis.

The Six Nations was stolen by a magnificent French side who went undefeated to win the grand slam, but the greatest moment of the tournament was undoubtedly Edoardo Padovani’s 80th minute try in the last match of the tournament which saw Wales lose to Italy by 1 point, ending Italy’s 36 game losing streak in the Six Nations. Listen to the commentary in Italian for the full experience.

Finally, we have the Southeast Asian Games which were held in Hanoi, Vietnam. This thrilling athletic event saw countries competing across 40 sports with 526 events in total and ended with the hosts, Vietnam, taking the victory with a whopping 205 gold medals for 446 medals in total, clear of second placed Thailand by over 100 medals.