After the hiatus of the Covid years, the sports world jumped traps in 2022 to make up for lost time.
Winter Olympics and World Cups in men’s football, T20 cricket, women’s rugby, men’s and women’s – and wheelchair – rugby league, as well as the Women’s Euro made for a busy 12 months, without forgetting a complete program of individual sports.
All the serious stuff that filled the first and last pages. However, there were a number of other tales that were a bit lighter.
‘Six of the best’ bizarre stories to hit the sports world in 2022.
Bug-Eyed Djoko – Serbian scientists caused a stir when they named a newly discovered species of insect after tennis star Novak Djokovic, due to the insect’s “speed and tenacity”.
Biologist Nikola Vesovic described the insect on Instagram as “a specialized, blind, underground carabid found in a pit near the town of Ljubovija” in the west of the country.
“He is very fast and eats other small animals,” he told AFP. “He’s a predator in his underground environment, just like Novak is kind of a predator on the tennis courts.”
It is the second such honor to be given to Djokovic who has a habit of crushing his opponents on the pitch – a few months earlier a freshwater snail from Montenegro was also named after him.
Mobile phone ban in Uganda – Ugandan prison staff were banned from using their mobile phones during the World Cup, reportedly because inmates might exploit the “excitement” surrounding the football tournament to escape.
Frank Mayanja Baine, spokesman for the Commissioner General of Prisons, said prison officers’ phones could “distract attention and interfere with the level of alertness”.
Their cell phones obviously didn’t have enough bars.
Forgotten Fed – In his prime, he was one of the most famous sporting faces in the world. Three months after his retirement, however, it looks like Roger Federer is a forgotten man – at least in London SW19.
It is the postcode of the All England Club where Federer won the Wimbledon championship eight times.
This, however, counted for nothing for a zealous security guard who refused entry to the tall man as he went in search of a cup of tea because he did not have his card. member.
“I’m like, ‘Um, we have one? “” Federer told the American television program “The Daily Show”.
“Because when you win Wimbledon you automatically become a member.
“Honestly, I don’t know about membership cards. They’re probably at home somewhere.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)
“I look at it one last time and I’m panicking now… And I say, ‘I’ve won this tournament eight times, please believe me, I’m a member and where can I get in?’”
Federer was finally allowed through another door thanks to the support of a member of the public who vouched for his record on the famous grass courts.
Widen clips WG – The cricketing ‘bible’ Wisden ruffled feathers when it announced it was cutting two of WG Grace’s centuries it no longer considers top class.
Given that the good doctor, arguably the sporting superstar of the 19th century, died 107 years ago in 1915, one wonders who cares. Not WG anyway.
It does mean, however, that his historic 100th century is no longer considered the one he scored for Gloucestershire against Somerset – much celebrated at the time – on May 17, 1895, coming rather without fanfare to Middlesex against Lord’s fifteen days later. .
The change does not appear to have damaged the memorabilia market, however, with original souvenir plaques, issued in 1895 to commemorate the feat, still selling on eBay for £1,020 ($1,250).
Skiing in the sand – As the world tries to find a way to fight global warming, Saudi Arabia may have found the answer: turning deserts into snow.
That seems to be the plan anyway after Saudi Arabia – which, let’s be clear, has an average temperature on the coast of 27°C to 38°C – was chosen to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games.
It will be held in a futuristic $500 billion desert megacity under construction which planners say will feature a year-round winter sports complex.
Roasted Chestnut Hot Dog Contest – Just as the French play pétanque and the English go after their balls, the Americans eat their hot dogs.
Boy, are they eating hot dogs. So much so that the playfully named Joey “Jaws” Chestnut wolfed down 63 – buns included – in just 10 minutes, to win the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest on New York’s Coney Island.
Multiple champion Chestnut, however, apologized to the crowd for falling short of the 76 he racked up in 2020.
“Joey Chestnut is a force from beyond that defies the laws of physics,” said contest host George Shea, who said the contest was “arguably the most iconic sporting event in the world. American history”.
Miki Sudo, who missed last year’s event because she was pregnant, won the women’s event with 40 points, eight short of her own record.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)