What was Eurosport's sporting moment of 2019?
ByEurosport
Updated 24/12/2019 at 23:22 GMT
2019 has been a remarkable year for sporting achievement, with much of the best of it occurring on Eurosport. Our journalists pick out their stand-out moments from a calendar year that will go down in the annals of history.
Michael Hincks – The men's Wimbledon final
This is my pick, not only because it produced one of the most thrilling showdowns you'll ever see at a Grand Slam, but because it played out side-by-side with the cricket World Cup final. At SW19, the final set will be remembered for some time, Roger 40-15 up and his two championships points, then Djokovic going on to win first final-set tie-break in a Wimbledon final. All this while chaos is taking place at Lord's and England Super Over their way to glory against New Zealand. Unforgettable.
Marcus Foley – Mark Selby’s six-odd minute shot
It was widely mocked but Selby’s six-minute shot provided an unbelievable insight into the mindset of an elite sportsperson. That was the sort of graft that three world titles look like.
Ola Fisayo – Kipchoge’s marathon heroics
Eliud Kipchoge going under 2hrs for a marathon and breaking the sport with insane trampoline shoes and elite cycling tactics has to be the moment of the year for me. From a sports branding standpoint it was frickin’ perfect disruptive marketing. From a human standpoint… well it’s just inhuman!
Tom Bennett – Mathieu Van der Poel’s Amstel Gold comeback
There were some quite remarkable sporting feats achieved in 2019, but the arrival of a new superstar is a particular reason to take note, and Mathieu Van der Poel’s extraordinary comeback win in the Amstel Gold Race back in April sent shockwaves through the sport of cycling. Talents like Van der Poel don’t come along often in sport and that victory will live long in the memory.
Tom Adams – Andy Murray winning ATP Antwerp in October
ATP Antwerp was not a huge event by Murray’s standards, but the year started with almost the entire tennis world prematurely wishing him the best on his retirement with a slew of TV tributes after his loss to Roberto Bautista Agut. It was emotional, touching and entirely premature. Murray underwent a serious surgical procedure when having his hip resurfaced and it was remarkable indeed to see him return to action and claim another ATP title when beating Stan Wawrinka in three sets.
Pete Sharland – Kobayashi soaring success in Four Hills
It came right at the start. Ryoyu Kobayashi becoming just the third person in Ski Jumping history to complete the Four Hills Grand Slam, winning all four events. Kobayashi, just 22 at the time, followed in the footsteps of two of the greatest of all time, Eurosport pundit Sven Hannawald and the legendary Kamil Stoch. Stoch will go down as one of the best but he had to wait until his 30s to achieve this feat, the fact that Kobayashi did this so early in his career is the hallmark of something special. We saw that with his dominant performances across the board. The future of Ski Jumping is in safe keeping in the hands of the Japanese
Carrie Dunn – Halep’s Wimbledon win
Simona Halep gritted her teeth and played the match of her life to beat Serena Williams in SW19 and lift the Wimbledon title.
Dan Quarrell – Novak vs Roger
The Wimbledon men’s singles final between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer was an absolute all-time classic. The two legendary players somehow contrived to produce a truly epic encounter which lasted five hours and two minutes with the Serb eventually coming out on top in a fifth-set Champions tie-break 7-3, with the match tied at 12-12. Remarkably, Djokovic saved two Championship points before winning his 16th Grand Slam in incredibly-dramatic fashion.
Freddie Clayton – The rise of tennis’s new generation
Tsitsipas winning the ATP finals caught my eye – this is it, the next generation of tennis superstars are finally here.
Ben Snowball – Kipchoge’s phenomenal feat
Eliud Kipchoge cracking the two-hour marathon is my pick. He ran 17.08 seconds for the 100 metres… 442 times consecutively. It’s arguably the greatest sporting feat in human history.
James Gray – That Men’s Wimbledon final
Federer 8-7 (40-15). How Roger Federer did not win that Wimbledon final, goodness only knows. Novak Djokovic went to the well, again, and pulled himself back into the match.
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