Michael Phelps of the U.S. swimming team smiles during a news conference at the Manchester Aquatics Centre in northern England December 17, 2009. The U.S. will take on Europe in a Duel in the Pool event in Manchester on Friday and Saturday. (Reuters File Photo)BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Xinhua News Agency selected the top 10 world sports news in 2009. 1. USA Swimming suspended Michael Phelps, the winner of eight Olympic gold medals in 2008, for three months for smoking marijuana. 2. Barcelona beat Manchester United 2-0 to win its third Champions' League. The Spanish giant has claimed six trophies in 2009. 3. Swiss tennis star Roger Federer regained the world No. 1 ranking after completing a career Grand Slam at Roland Garros. He went on to surpass Pete Sampras by winning his 15th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon. 4. Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo signed a six-year deal with Real Madrid with a record-setting tag of 130 million U.S. dollars. 5. Swimming ruling body FINA decided to ban the high-tech swimsuits that had helped bring down a dozen world records at the 2009 world championships from next year. 6. Jamaican sprinter Usian Bolt shattered his own 100m and 200mworld records at the world athletics championships in Berlin. 7. Rio de Janeiro beat Madrid, Tokyo and Chicago to win the bidfor the 2016 Olympic Games. 8. Jacques Rogge was re-elected as the IOC president at the 121st IOC Session, while golf and Rugby sevens made it to the Olympic program. 9. European soccer rocked with match-fixing scandals. More than200 matches, including UEFA Champions League matches, were suspected to be rigged. 10. Tiger Woods took an "indefinite" leave from golf after allegations of numerous extramarital affairs surfaced. (Editor's admin) |
