International sports review of 2016 infographic
Graphic shows a selection of international sporting events in 2016.
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YEAR END

International sports review of 2016

By Chris Dinsdale

December 31, 2016 - End of year package. Graphic shows a selection of key sporting events that took place during 2016. Events and people in the public eye included the Rio Olympic Games, Portugal's triumph at Euro 2016, Leicester City's fairytale English Premier League victory, the changing of the guard in tennis with Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber both rising to World Number 1, Chris Froome claiming his third Tour de France title, first time champions at all four golf majors, and Nico Rosberg winning the Formula One World Championship.

January 30 - Angelique Kerber wins her first grand slam title, beating Serena Williams in the Australian Open final. The German goes on to become the new No 1 women’s tennis player ending Williams' 186-week reign

February 7 - Inspired by legendary quarterback Peyton Manning, the Denver Broncos take their third Super Bowl championship beating the Carolina Panthers 24-10. One month later, Manning announces his retirement

March - Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova reveals she failed a drugs test at the Australian Open in January. The five-time Grand Slam winner tested positive for meldonium, which was added to the list of banned substances at the start of the year. Sharapova is banned for two years, reduced on appeal to 15 months

April 9 - Rule the World, ridden by David Mullins, triumphs at the Grand National, becoming the first novice to win the race since 1958. The nine-year-old, who came back from injury to achieve the feat, is subsequently retired

April – Golfer Danny Willet wins his first major championship – the U.S. Masters – at Augusta, Georgia. The Englishman’s victory heralds a run of first-time major winners, with Henrik Stenson at the British Open, Dustin Johnson at the U.S. Open and Jimmy Walker at the PGA Championship

May - Leicester City are confirmed English Premier League Champions for the first time, following Tottenham Hotspur's draw at Chelsea. Starting the campaign as 5,000-1 outsiders, the Foxes lost just three league games all season, at home and away to Arsenal and to Liverpool at Anfield

May 28 - Real Madrid defeat Atletico Madrid 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at the end of extra time to win the UEFA Champions League for a record-extending 11th time, Cristiano Ronaldo converting the decisive spot kick

June 5 - Serbia's Novak Djokovic wins the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, completing a career Grand Slam and becoming the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time

June 26 - Chile defeat Argentina 4-2 on penalties to take their second Copa America title in two years. The game was 0-0 at the end of extra time.

July 10 - Portugal upset hosts France to win their first major football tournament at the Euro 2016 European Championship in Paris. Substitute Eder's goal in the second period of extra time secures victory

July 21 - Russia's track and field athletes lose an appeal, at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, to compete at the Rio Olympics. The blanket ban remains in force, applying even to those who had not failed drugs tests

July 24 - British cyclist Chris Froome triumphs in the Tour de France for the third time. The Team Sky rider, who won in 2013 and 2015, is the first man successfully to defend his title in more than 20 years. Elsewhere, Nairo Quintana wins his first Vuelta a Espana, while the 2014 Tour de France champion, Vincenzo Nibali, claims his maiden Giro d’Italia title

August 5-21 - Rio Olympic captions:
August 11 – Fiji’s rugby players trounce Great Britain 43-7 in the final, to claim the country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal
August 13 - U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps wins his 23rd Olympic gold, taking his overall medal tally to 28. In securing a 13th individual gold, he breaks the 2,168-year-old record of ancient Olympian runner, Leonidas of Rhodes
August 15 - South Africa's Wayde van Niekerk breaks Michael Johnson's 17-year-old world record as he takes gold in the 400m
August 16 - American gymnast Simone Biles becomes the first woman since Romania's Ecaterina Szabo in 1984 to win four Olympic gymnastics golds at a single Games
August 19 - Usain Bolt becomes the first athlete to complete the "triple-triple" when he helps Jamaica win the 4x100m relay to take his ninth Olympic Gold in three consecutive Games
August 20 - Britain's Mo Farah becomes only the second man to retain the 5,000m and 10,000m titles, matching the achievement of Finland's Lasse Viren, who completed the double at Munich in 1972 and Montreal in 1976
August 20 - Brazil's footballers win Olympic gold for the first time, defeating Germany 5-4 on penalties, the game having finished 1-1. The victory comes two years after Germany dealt Brazil its heaviest World Cup defeat: 7-1 in the semi-finals of the 2014 tournament

September - China tops the medals table at the Paralympic Games which are marred by financial difficulties for the participants and the absence of the Russian Paralympic team, thanks to the doping scandal

October 2 - The United States, led by captain Davis Love III, wins the Ryder Cup for the first time since 2008, beating Europe 17-11 at Hazeltine

October 13 – British World Heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury vacates the belts he won against Wladimir Klitschko to focus on medical treatment, after admitting taking cocaine and suffering from depression

October 16 – Motorcycling’s Marc Marquez becomes the youngest-ever three-time MotoGP World Champion at the age of 23. The Spaniard secures his third championship in four years with victory at the Japanese Grand Prix

November 2 - The Chicago Cubs end their 108-year wait for baseball’s World Series title after coming back from a three games to one deficit to win 4-3 against the Cleveland Indians

November 20 - Andy Murray is confirmed as the year-end world No 1 after victory over Novak Djokovic at the ATP World Tour final in London. Murray ends the year with a career-best winning run of 24 matches

November 27 – Racing driver Nico Rosberg is crowned Formula One World Champion for the first time. He is the second son of a champion to win the world title, his father Keke Rosberg having won for Williams in 1982. Nico announces his retirement from F1 five days later

December 13 – International footballer Cristiano Ronaldo is awarded his fourth Ballon d'Or, ahead of rival Lionel Messi. It caps a special year for the Portuguese captain who has scored over 50 goals in 2016 and conquered Europe twice, winning the Champions League with Real Madrid before leading Portugal to Euro 2016 glory

Sources
PUBLISHED: 15/12/2016; STORY: Adam Stephens; PICTURES: Getty Images
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