The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα and ἄθλος. Events are held over two consecutive days and the winners are determined by the combined performance in all. Performance is judged on a points system in each event, not by the position achieved. The decathlon is contested mainly by male athletes, while female athletes typically compete in the heptathlon.
The World Snooker Championship is the leading snooker tournament both in terms of prestige and prize money. The first championship was held in 1927 and was won by Joe Davis. Davis won the first 15 championships before retiring from the event, undefeated, after his 1946 success. In the 1950s snooker went into a period of decline and the championship was not held after 1952, although an unofficial championship was held until 1957. In 1964 the championship was revived on a challenge basis and in 1969 the championship became a knock-out event again. Since 1977 it has been played at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The tournament is currently played over 17 days and ends on the first Monday in May. In the modern era, the best record is that of Stephen Hendry, who won the title seven times. Steve Davis and Ray Reardon both won six times while Ronnie O'Sullivan has won five titles. The current champion is Mark Williams, who has won the tournament three times.
The World Squash Championships are squash events for men and women organised by the Professional Squash Association.The men's event was first held in 1976, and the women's was inaugurated in 1979.
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton is a British racing driver who races in Formula One for Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport. A five-time Formula One World Champion, he is often considered the best driver of his generation and widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport. He won his first World Championship title with McLaren in 2008, then moved to Mercedes where he won back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015 before winning back-to-back titles again in 2017 and 2018. The most successful British driver in the history of the sport, Hamilton has more World Championship titles (5) and more race victories (75) than any other British driver in Formula One. He also holds records for the all-time most career points (3,086), the most wins at different circuits (26), the all-time most pole positions (84) and the most grand slams in a season (3).
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. They are ranked third in the world by World Rugby as of 18 March 2019. The team competes annually in the current Six Nations Championship, which they have won fourteen times outright and shared nine times in its various formats. The team also competes every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions. Ireland is also one of the four unions that make up the British and Irish Lions – players eligible to play for Ireland are also eligible for the Lions.
Usain St Leo Bolt is a Jamaican retired sprinter. He also is a world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4 × 100 metres relay. His reign as Olympic Games champion in all of these events spans three Olympics. Owing to his achievements and dominance in sprint competition, he is widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time.
Melissa Jeanette "Missy" Franklin is an American-Canadian former competition swimmer and five-time Olympic gold medalist. She currently holds the world record in the 200-meter backstroke and American records in the 200-meter backstroke. As a member of the U.S. national swim team, she also holds the world record in the 4×100-meter medley relay.
The World Curling Championships are the annual world championships for curling, organized by the World Curling Federation and contested by national championship teams. There are men's, women's and mixed doubles championships, as well as junior and senior championships for each gender. There is also a world championship for wheelchair curling. The men's championship started in 1959, while the women's started in 1979. The mixed doubles championship was started in 2008. Since 2005, the men's and women's championships have been held in different venues, with Canada hosting one of the two championships every year: the men's championship in odd years, and the women's championship in even years. Canada has dominated both the men's and women's championships since their inception, although Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Scotland, the United States, Norway and China have all won at least one championship.
Gabriella Papadakis is a French ice dancer. With her partner, Guillaume Cizeron, she is the 2018 Olympic silver medalist, a four-time World champion, a five-time consecutive European champion (2015–2019), the 2017 Grand Prix Final champion, and a five-time French national champion (2015–2019). They have won six gold medals on the Grand Prix series. Earlier in their career, they won silver at the 2012 Junior Grand Prix Final and at the 2013 World Junior Championships. They are the historical world record holders in short dance, free dance, and combined total.
Guillaume Cizeron is a French ice dancer. With his partner, Gabriella Papadakis, he is the 2018 Olympic silver medalist, a four-time World champion, a five-time consecutive European champion (2015–2019), the 2017 Grand Prix Final champion, and a five-time French national champion (2015–2018). They have won six gold medals on the Grand Prix series. Earlier in their career, they won silver at the 2012 Junior Grand Prix Final and 2013 World Junior Championships. They are the historical world record holders in short dance, free dance, and combined total scores.
The League of Legends World Championship is the annual professional League of Legends world championship tournament hosted by Riot Games and is the culmination of each season. Teams compete for the champion title, the 70 pounds (32 kg) Summoner's Cup, and a US$1 million championship prize. In 2017, the finals were watched by 60 million people, breaking 2016's finals' viewer record. The tournament has been widely praised for its ceremonial performances, while receiving attention worldwide due to its multiple dramatic and emotional series. A donation of US$2 million was raised through the sales of the Worlds 2017 Championship Ashe skin.
The 2015 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships was the forty-sixth edition of the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. The competition was held from 23 October – 1 November 2015 at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, United Kingdom, and is the first time that Scotland hosted the event. The competition served as a qualification for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
The 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships was an international swimming competition for athletes with a disability. It was held in Glasgow, United Kingdom and took place from 13 to 19 July. Around 580 athletes from around 70 different countries competed at the games, with Russia topping the tables with most gold medals and medals won. The event was held at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre located within Tollcross Park in Glasgow. Initially awarded as the IPC Swimming European Championships, the event was upgraded to a World Championship after a change to the IPC calendar.
The 2014–16 ICC Women's Championship was the first edition of the ICC Women's Championship, a women's One Day International cricket (WODI) competition contested by eight teams. The top four teams at the conclusion of the tournament gained automatically qualification for the 2017 World Cup. The bottom four teams faced six qualifying teams in the 2017 World Cup Qualifier for the remaining four places at the World Cup. When four or more WODIs were played in a series, only three pre-selected matches were included in the championship. The second edition of the competition started in October 2017.
The 1936 United States Olympic Trials for track and field were held in July 1936 and decided the United States team for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. The Trials for men and women were held separately; men's events were held at Randall's Island Stadium in New York City on July 11 and July 12, while women competed at Brown Stadium in Providence, Rhode Island on July 4. The top three athletes in each event qualified for the Olympic Games. The women's meeting also served as the annual outdoor track and field championships of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU); the men's AAU championships were held separately a week before the Olympic Trials.
