2023 summer Olympic sports highlights: relive the year's most exciting and groundbreaking moments
Viral videos, tearful podium embraces, nation-cheering results, the world of sport in 2023 has been quite the drama-fest, and that's even before we get to Olympic year. We bring you some of the most notable moments.
In just a few days, the world's best athletes aiming for Paris 2024 will wake up on the 1 January and find themselves in Olympic year.
Some lucky souls have already been selected by their National Olympic Committees and know for certain they will be headed to France for the Games starting in less than seven months' time.
Most are still either trying to qualify a quota berth for their nation in their sport or vying with their teammates for the limited spots available for each sport.
Many will not know if they have succeeded until a month or so before the Games begin on 26 July 2024.
But that's all to come.
As 2023 comes to a close, Olympics.com takes a look at some of the most exciting, amazing and moving moments of the year – month by month – that just serve to build the anticipation for some mouth-watering moments to come at the XXXIII Olympiad.
A fairy-tale comes true and threepeat history-makers
A last-minute decision to enter the men's doubles at the Australian Open in January provided quite the fairy-tale start to the sporting annals of 2023, as Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler won a Grand Slam in their first event as a team. “I wasn’t sure (about doing doubles)," Kubler said during the trophy ceremony, "and then Rinky asked me and I said yeah and decided to play. Two weeks later and we have this trophy, so a big thank you to Rinky.”
Denmark made history by becoming the first men's national handball team to win three consecutive world titles. Denying Olympic champions France their seventh world crown, defeating them 34-29 in the final in Stockholm, that match up should be quite the showdown come Paris 2024 with both nations already qualified for the Games.
Future LA 2028 cricket star, a skateboarding prodigy and basketball icon King James
Australia may have won their sixth women's Twenty20 World Cup title in February, but the likes of youngsters such as Bangladesh's teenage cricket sensation Marufa Akter can look forward to their sport being part of the Olympic Games with squash, flag football, baseball, softball and lacrosse announced as joining the fray at LA 2028.
Twelve-year-old skateboarding prodigy Onodera Ginwoo went from unranked to third place at the Street World Championships in Sharjah, Dubai behind France's Aurelien Giraud in top spot, and Gustavo Ribeiro, the Portuguese 2022 title holder, to become the youngest male medallist ever with bronze. By year's end, the now 13-year-old made X Games history in Chiba, Japan as the youngest-ever men's street skateboarding world champion.
The crowd knew, his LA Lakers team-mates knew, his Oklahoma City Thunder opponents knew – everyone knew what was coming as LeBron James teed up to take the shot. A beat of silence, then boom, the 38-year-old became the NBA's all-time leading scorer, beating the record of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 38,387. But King James hasn't finished yet. At the time of writing, James was on 39,363 points, extending his tally just in case any future stars want to take a shot at it sometime.
Jamaican legend in must-win race, Cambodian runner goes viral and judo icon weighs in
Summer McIntosh. Where to start? The teenager set two world records at the 2023 Canadian swimming trials in April, beating the seven-year record of icon Katinka Hosszu in the 400m individual medley in a time of 4:25.87 to the Hungarian's 4:26.36, and the 400m freestyle record at 3:56.08, knocking 0.32s off the previous record held by another legend of the sport, Australia's reigning Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus. By November, the Toronto native became the first swimmer to win a 400m freestyle over Katie Ledecky, that'll be the seven-time Olympic champion, and 21-time world title holder – in a U.S. pool in 11 years. McIntosh is 16.
Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce may have 13 Olympic and world titles to her name, but the years of hard training really came good in a race in April, which the 38-year-old completely dominated. The third fastest woman of all time eyed her competitors on the start-line, knowing this was a race she had to win, she had to do it for her six-year-old son, Zyon. No, she really did have to do it for her son. It was his school sports day.
Judo star Teddy Riner won a record-extending 11th individual judo world championship title in Doha in May, six years after his last. One of the most popular judokas in the world, the three-time Olympic champion is one of France's most beloved athletes and surely set for iconic status at his home Games in Paris in less than seven months.
Cambodian runner Bou Samnang may have finished last in her 5,000m race at her home Southeast Asian Games in May but the law student still won the hearts of fans in the stadium and in viral posts around the world. Despite a torrential downpour that started when everybody else had left the track, Samnang wouldn't give up, telling Olympics.com in an exclusive interview: “I’ve learned to never give up, to keep pushing, to keep persevering, to have patience... Even if you go slow, it’s much better than not finishing, not crossing the finish line."
Bou Samnang of Cambodia doesn't give up during the 5,000m race at the 2023 Southeast Asian Games despite tropical storm
Shot putter steps up for the team
At the European Athletics Team Championships in Chorzów, Poland in June, every point counted, so when Belgium's 100m hurdler Anne Zagre got injured, up stepped shot putter Jolien Boumkwo to take her place. By finishing the race cleanly, and with another hurdler disqualified due to a false start, Boumkwo scored two points and prevented her side from being relegated from the championship. "The team is really important to me," said Boumkwo afterwards. "I couldn't let it lose by one point."
World records, history-making moments and feel-good factors in the year before Paris 2024
July, and one year before the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games begins and a smorgasbord of sporting excellence was served up to sports fans the world over.
Kenya's Faith Kipyegon broke the world record in the women's mile (4:07.64) at the Monaco Diamond League to secure her third athletics world record of the season, which also included the 1500m and 5,000m.
Neeraj Chopra won India's first-ever athletics World Championship gold with a throw of 88.17m in the javelin event in Budapest.
Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz beat Novak Djokovic on the grass courts of Wimbledon to claim his second Grand Slam title, at 20 years old. He's got some way to go to beat the Serb, however, who claimed his 24th major in 2023, at the US Open, matching Margaret Court's all-time record haul.
Nineteen-year-old Aussie Mollie O'Callaghan became the first woman to secure the 100m and 200m freestyle at the same World Championships. Oh, and the latter came in a winning time of 1:52.85 at the pool in Fukuoka, Japan, breaking Federica Pellegrini's world record that had stood untouched for 14 years, the longest-standing women’s world record in swimming.
Chen Yuxi of People's Republic of China became the women's 10m platform diving world champion for the third time in a row with an almost flawless performance that came close to the world record, securing 457.85, bettering her Tokyo 2020 gold-medal-winning teammate Quan Hongchan who had needed the world record of 466.20 to beat her compatriot in Japan. That head-to-head at Paris 2023 will be one to watch.
The first-ever men’s solo World Championship title in artistic swimming was crowned with Fernando Diaz Del Rio Soto securing gold. Men will be competing in the sport for the first time at an Olympic Games come Paris, in the team event.
Michael Phelps commentating on Leon Marchand breaking his last-standing individual world record in the men's 400m individual medley was quite the moment with the American saying of the French swimming prodigy, “Oh my gosh. I cannot get over that", before handing the 21-year-old Toulouse native his well-deserved gold medal.
The feel-good factor emanated throughout the month-long women's football World Cup, co-hosted in Australia and New Zealand, and proved a significant boost for viewership of women's sport worldwide. The defending champions, the United States, drew a total domestic viewership of 6.26 million viewers for the team's opening against Vietnam... despite being on at the same time as one Lionel Messi was making his MLS debut for Inter Miami.
For a more visual aspect of how wide-sweeping the interest in the women's World Cup was, just take a look at the video that went viral in August when just about every screen on a flight showed the nail-biting 20-goal penalty shoot-out between the Matildas and France. Finally winning the contest 7-6, the Aussies progressed to the semi-finals of the tournament for the very first time, only to be beaten by the pesky English, who in turn were beaten by the embattled but well-deserving Spanish side.
Sibling joy, prodigious talent, and Mondo things
September and Mondo Duplantis continues doing Mondo Duplantis things, breaking his own pole vault world record when the Swede cleared 6.23m at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon in the USA. At the same meet, Ethiopia distance runner Gudaf Tsegay bettered Kipyegon's early season world record in the 5000m to claim the world's best time for women in 14:00.21.
The dream of prodigy Caroline Marks to win a surfing world title came to fruition when she beat compatriot and five-time world champ and Olympic gold medallist Carissa Moore in San Clemente, California. The 21-year-old American is just the fourth women's World Champion in the past 15 years.
An emotional moment at the Asian Games saw Zhang Yufei and Ikee Rikako embrace in a tearful hug after the final race of the competition, the women's 50m butterfly. The two swimmers, from Peoples' Republic of China and Japan, respectively, became emotional after Ikee won her first international medal since the 2018 Games in Jakarta, which was followed by a leukaemia diagnosis in February 2019.
Coco Gauff couldn't understand why her brother wasn't answering the call when she tried to contact him after claiming the US Open tennis title at Flushing Meadows. That is, until she saw footage of him screaming and jumping around after she beat Aryna Sabalenka, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to win her debut Grand Slam. "No wonder my brother didn't answer the phone. Legend says he's still screaming to this day."
Coco Gauff wins the 2023 US Open
Return to the Olympic fray for Daley, Kenny, Whitlock, Nadal and Biles
A number of Olympic icons announced their return in 2023, in a bid for further Games' glory as Paris 2024 nears.
A trio of Brits with 17 Olympic medals between them, diver Tom Daley, track cyclist Laura Kenny and artistic gymnast Max Whitlock – all announced a return to the arena with their children very much at the heart of their decisions to return to the Olympic stage.
Rafael Nadal also revealed a return to tennis after an extended injury break with an appearance on his beloved Roland Garros court, in which he's won 14 French Open titles, a distinct possibility for Paris 2024. A doubles match-up with fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz would have fans salivating.
Olympic icon Simone Biles also made a triumphant return to artistic gymnastics after a period away from the sport following a tricky time of it at Tokyo 2020, after pulling out of the team event after a case of the "twisties", the American gaining plaudits for prioritising her mental health. Time out to get married, build her own home, and enjoy life enabled her to regain equilibrium between life and sport and a return to the World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium in October, at the same arena in which she'd made her international debut almost exactly a decade before, saw her become the most decorated gymnast in history with 37 world and Olympic medals.
And don't get us started on 'volleyball monster' György Grozer. The German retired from international competition twice – once in 2016, and again after the men's team didn't qualify for Tokyo 2020. But he's back again in a bid for Paris, and absolutely smashed it at the Olympic Qualifying tournament in Rio with 132 pts in total (112 attacks, 11 blocks, nine serves). He was the second-best scorer of the tournament with 112 attacks, and third best attacker. All at 39 years' old. His ultimate dream? That his daughter Leana Grozer will also play in Paris to make it quite the family affair.
Portugal received a heroes' welcome as the men's team returned home from the Rugby World Cup in France to be greeted by hundreds of fans. At their second appearance at the prestigious event, the side scored their first ever point after drawing with Georgia, before claiming their first ever win against Fiji in a breathless encounter that ended 24-23.
Australia's Grace Harris not only broke records in the Women's Big Bash League but the all-rounder also provided a viral moment after realising her bat was broken. "I need a new bat," she shouted to her cricketing teammates before impatience to crack on resulted in a, "Never mind, I'll hit it anyway". Hit it did she did, sending the bat flying into two parts as the ball flew over the boundary for a maximum six runs.
The 2023 Rugby World Cup winners, South Africa, meanwhile, won for a record fourth time after beating the iconic All Blacks in the final and provided a feel-good factor across the nation. Siya Kolisi, the second ever captain to claim the Webb Ellis trophy twice, lead the way with his motivational speeches for "the people that need hope" and his joyful persona.
A joyful run, poverty to world's best, and sportsmanship at its best
Afghanistan enjoyed a dream run at the men's Cricket World Cup in November, which included victories against former champions England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, capturing the imagination of the cricketing world. Fans enjoyed the underdog story throughout the tournament that was won by Australia who beat stunned hosts, India.
In a fairy-tale moment in December, Napoli's Victor Osimhen was named Africa's Footballer of the Year for 2023. The Nigerian striker grew up in challenging circumstances, including losing his parents, posted on X (formerly Twitter): "As a young boy who had to hawk in traffic almost every day in order to survive the numerous challenges my family and I were facing, becoming a treasure in Africa and world football was a wild dream. Words can’t express the joy in my heart, this is a very special moment to me."
Ireland's Fionnuala McCormack qualified for her fifth Olympic Games - a record for any Irish athlete, and five months after giving birth to her third daughter.
And finally, a feel-good moment of sportsmanship at the Malaga Marathon in Spain, where Ricardo Rosado of Madrid had the opportunity to overtake Evans Kimtai Kiprono to finish fifth. The Kenyan was struggling with physical exhaustion and trying to stay on his feet, but Rosado assisted Kiprono to help him over the line ahead of him. In an interview with Málaga Hoy, Rosado said afterwards: “The marathon is an experience, and he has been better than me throughout the day, so I thought he deserved to be fifth at the finish line. You identify with your rival; I would do it again.”
And, on that note, we bid adieu to 2023 and eye an Olympic year and the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
