Sport round-up 2023

As another remarkable sporting year draws to a close, I thought I would look back and reflect on some of the 2023 highlights.

2023 will never be forgotten in Manchester, well, not by the blue half anyway! In May, Manchester City secured their fifth Premier League title in the last six years, winning 28 of 38 games. Shortly afterwards they defeated their Manchester rivals United in the FA Cup Final 2-1; taking the lead through Ilkay Gundogan’s goal after just 12 seconds; which is a new record. Seven days later they completed an amazing, historic treble – narrowly beating Inter Milan 1-0 in Istanbul thanks to Rodri’s 68th-minute strike to win their first Champions League title.

Meanwhile in the Women’s Super League in May, Chelsea pipped Manchester Utd for the league title by two points and got the better of the same opponents 1-0 in the FA Cup Final.

North of the border, a familiar pattern saw Celtic finish seven points ahead of Rangers to win their 53rd league title, thus closing in on their Glasgow rivals, currently on 55. The green and white hoops also secured their 19th double; beating Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3-1 in the Scottish Cup Final.

Football

2023 will never be forgotten in Manchester, well, not by the blue half anyway! In May, Manchester City secured their fifth Premier League title in the last six years, winning 28 of 38 games. Shortly afterwards they defeated their Manchester rivals United in the FA Cup Final 2-1; taking the lead through Ilkay Gundogan’s goal after just 12 seconds; which is a new record. Seven days later they completed an amazing, historic treble – narrowly beating Inter Milan 1-0 in Istanbul thanks to Rodri’s 68th-minute strike to win their first Champions League title.

Meanwhile in the Women’s Super League in May, Chelsea pipped Manchester Utd for the league title by two points and got the better of the same opponents 1-0 in the FA Cup Final.

North of the border, a familiar pattern saw Celtic finish seven points ahead of Rangers to win their 53rd league title, thus closing in on their Glasgow rivals, currently on 55. The green and white hoops also secured their 19th double; beating Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3-1 in the Scottish Cup Final.

Tennis

Yet another great year for Novak Djokovic who added three more Majors to his name – winning the Australian, 

US & French Opens. The Wimbledon title went to Carlos Alcaraz. Honours were spread evenly in the WTA – Aryna Sabalenka (Aus) Iga Swiatek (French) Marketa Vondrousova (Wimbledon), and Coco Gauff (US). Italy won the Davis Cup. In progressively popular wheelchair tennis, the incredible Alfie Hewett won the Australian and US Open titles.

Snooker

On the green baize in January, Judd Trump won the Masters. In May, Luca Brecel won his first World Championship and in December, 48 year-old Ronnie O’Sullivan, widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in the sport’s history, rattled up a record 8th UK Championship.

Horse Racing 

A good year for the favourites! At Cheltenham in March, 7/5 favourite Galopin Des Champs won the prestigious Gold Cup for Irish trainer Willie Mullins and Paul Townend, while in April 8-1 favourite Corach Rambler won the Aintree Grand National for Lucinda Russell and Derek Fox.

Boxing

In May, Chris Billam-Smith beat Lawrence Okolie by a majority decision to become the WBO Cruiserweight champion. In December he successfully defended the challenge by Mateusz Masternak. Surely 2024 will finally bring us the two great heavyweight fights that everyone eagerly wants to see, the planned Tyson Fury v Oleksandr Usyk and perhaps Anthony Joshua v Deontay Wilder. In women’s boxing, England’s Chantelle Cameron defeated Ireland’s Katie Taylor in May but lost the rematch – and her six world titles – in November.

F1

Max Verstappen and Red Bull continue to dominate. The ‘Flying Dutchman’ won 19 of the 22 races to become World Champion for the third time in October and Red Bull once again won the Constructors Championship.

Across the pond 

In America, the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 to win the NFL Super Bowl in February, while in June the Denver Nuggets celebrate their first championship in franchise history after defeating the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.

Rugby

With the oval ball, Ireland was unstoppable in the Six Nations, winning all their matches. Scotland finished in a respectable third place and took great delight in beating England at Twickenham. A disappointing Wales could only pick up a solitary win – against Italy.

Rugby

With the oval ball, Ireland was unstoppable in the Six Nations, winning all their matches. Scotland finished in a respectable third place and took great delight in beating England at Twickenham. A disappointing Wales could only pick up a solitary win – against Italy.

By the time the Rugby World Cup started in

September, England had improved but despite a heroic display in their semi-final, they went down 15-16 to the eventual winners, South Africa. The much-fancied Irish found New Zealand too strong for them in the quarters, just as the Welsh did against Argentina. Scotland didn’t manage to progress out of the group stage.

Cricket

An exciting and controversial Ashes Test series really caught fire as England fought back from 2-0 down to eventually draw the series 2-2; which meant that Australia would retain the tiny four inch-high Ashes urn. Everything could well have worked out differently if the British summer hadn’t wiped out the 4th test when England’s tails were up and a win looked a distinct possibility! India proudly hosted the Cricket World Cup in October and England arrived with high hopes of repeating their 2019 success. However a truly disastrous tournament saw them only win three games out of nine – including a shock defeat to lowly Afghanistan. Australia silenced the home nation in the final to win a record sixth title.

Athletics

August brought the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, with Great Britain and Northern Ireland winning two gold medals (Katarina Johnson-Thompson in the heptathlon and Josh Kerr in the 1,500 metres), three silver medals and five bronze. A typically strong USA team topped the medal table with 12 gold.

Golf

In April, Jon Rahm became the fourth Spanish winner of the US Masters – 40 years on from when legendary Seve Ballesteros won his first green jacket. In May, Brooks Koepka won his third US PGA Championship. In June, Wyndham Clark somewhat unexpectedly held off Rory McIlroy to win the US Open and in similar fashion in July, Brian Harman won the Open at Royal Liverpool. At the end of September, an impressive European team, led by Captain Luke Donald, won the Ryder Cup in Rome beating the USA sixteen and a half to eleven and a half. Europe’s elite women’s team retained the Solheim Cup after drawing 14-14 with USA.

Women’s World Cup

The Lionesses flew to the other side of the world in July to attempt to follow up last year’s Euro’s success by bringing home the World Cup – hosted by Australia & New Zealand. 

A steady start saw them win all three of their group games against Haiti, Denmark and China. The knockout stage saw them win 4-2 on penalties against Nigeria, slip past Columbia 2-1 in the quarter-final and then break Aussie hearts with a brave 3-1 victory in the semi-final. Sadly, they were unable to overcome Spain in the final, losing 1-0 despite the heroics of penalty saving and Golden Glove winner Mary Earps.

Darts

On the oche in January, Michael Smith won his first World Championship. In July, Nathan Aspinall won his first World Matchplay, while in October Luke Humphries won the World Grand Prix and in November went on to win the Grand Slam of Darts. 

An early taste of 2024

January 14th Australian Open

February 17th Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk

Feb/March Six Nations Rugby

March 12th-15th Cheltenham Festival 

… and this summer will see the sporting highlights of the year the Paris Olympics and UEFA Euros in Germany and the T20 Cricket World Cup.

The Great Debate: transgender athletes

Should transgender women compete in women’s sport?

The issue of competitors who were born male but now identify as female is fiercely contested, with different sports setting different rules. In March, the World Athletics Association voted to ban transgender (trans) women from elite female competitions if they have undergone male puberty, in a decision the governing body said had been taken to “protect the future of the female category.”

World Rugby, the Rugby Football League and World Swimming have banned trans women from female competitions. Swimming’s decision came after US college swimmer Lia Thomas, who had been very average as a male competitor, won a national college female title in 2022.

In some sports, trans women can compete if they lower their testosterone to below a specified level. In August, trans powerlifter Anne Andres won first place at an event in Canada and shattered the women’s powerlifting world record in her category.

Ban them

Stars including retired runner Paula Radcliffe argue that trans women have unfair physical advantages due to the impact of testosterone on their bodies, and must be banned from women’s events to protect the integrity of sporting competition. Ex-tennis legend Martina Navratilova says “it’s insane and it’s cheating” for trans women to compete in women’s sport. 

The president of World Athletics, Lord Coe, says: “We are talking about athletes that fundamentally have male biology competing in a category against biologically women, and I’m afraid that just does not fit the definition of a fair playing field.”

Trans player Harriet Haynes won the Women’s Champions of Champions pool tournament in Wales in November after her opponent in the final walked out in protest. Will more women take the issue into their own hands by refusing to compete against trans opponents? Will women lose interest in sports they regard as unfair? What about combat sports like boxing and martial arts?

Allow them

The Women’s Sports Foundation says: “If a young person transitions from male to female before puberty, as in the case of some transgender people, no accommodation is necessary at all and this student should be treated as any other competitor in girls’ or women’s sports. Additionally, if a transgender student transitions after puberty, medical experts increasingly agree that the effects of taking female hormones negate any strength and muscular advantage that testosterone may have provided.”

Whilst men may be bigger and stronger, the female body has other advantages. Women generally have a lower centre of gravity, enhancing balance; are more flexible; and are more efficient in converting calories into energy, increasing endurance.

Regarding fairness, sports and genetics are never ‘fair’. Many elite athletes have a genetic edge over others. In basketball, height is an advantage. Michel Phelps’s peculiar anatomy gives him the upper hand in swimming. 

A study at Loughborough University has shown that trans people get less exercise than their non-trans peers, so their participation in sport should be encouraged on health grounds.