World championship

A world championship is generally an international sports competition open to elite competitors from across the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport or contest.

The title is usually awarded through a combination of specific contests or, less commonly, ranking systems (e.g. the ICC Test Championship), or a combination of the two (e.g. World Triathlon Championships in Triathlon). This determines a 'world champion', who or which is commonly considered the best nation, team, individual (or other entity) in the world in a particular field, although the vagaries of sport ensure that the competitor recognised at the best in an event is not always the 'world champion' (see Underdog).

Certain sports do not have a world championship, instead they may organise a world cup competition, or they may organize both. Often, the use of the term cup or championship in this sense is just a choice of words. Some sports have multiple champions because of multiple organizations such as mixed martial arts, boxing and wrestling.

Certain sports do not have a world championship or a world cup as such, but may have one or several world champions. Professional boxing, for example, has several world champions at different weights, but each one of them is decided by a "title fight", not a tournament.

A certain number of sports hold world championships or world cups which are overshadowed, in terms of prestige, by the same events in the Olympic Games, the most prestigious multi-sports event.

Finally, certain professional sports do not have a world championship or world cup, but rather hold a series of events recognised as the elite level in their field (e.g. tennis has a series of four Grand Slam events recognised as the pinnacle of the game, in addition to key team events, world tour finals and the Olympic Games, but no world championship or world cup).

Sports

Most successful sportsperson in each sport

This table includes medals for both individual and team events. Currently active competitors are highlighted in pale green. Italics indicates achieved more than one titles in a single year.

Men
Category Sport Sportsperson Born Tot. Ref.
Bicycle racing Cycling (road) Switzerland Fabian Cancellara[1] 1981 4026
Spain Óscar Freire 1976 3014
Belgium Eddy Merckx 1945
Belgium Rik Van Steenbergen 1924-2003
Italy Alfredo Binda 1902-1986
Cycling (track) France Arnaud Tournant 1978 143219
BMX racing United States Randy Stumpfhauser 1977 45312
Mountain bike racing (XC) France Julien Absalon 1980 4116
Mountain bike racing (DH) France Nicolas Vouilloz 1976 100010
Combat sports Boxing Cuba Félix Savón 1967 6107
Jiu-Jitsu Brazil Roger Gracie 1981 105015
Judo Japan Ryoko Tani 1989 7018
Karate Italy Luca Valdesi 1976 62412
Sambo Russia Fedor Emelianenko 1976 4015
Taekwondo United States Steven López 1978 5005
Wrestling Russia Aleksandr Karelin[2] 1967 9009
Target sports Archery Sweden Hans Deutgen 1917-1989 4105
Darts United Kingdom Phil Taylor 1960 16420
Shooting Switzerland Konrad Stäheli 1866-1931 41171067 [3]
Cue sports Snooker United Kingdom Joe Davis 1901-1978 15015
Billiards United Kingdom Mike Russell 1969 11819
Racquet sports Badminton South Korea Park Joo-bong 1964 5027
Table tennis Hungary Viktor Barna 1911-1972 2271241
Tennis[4] United States John McEnroe 1959 101011
Tennis (team) Australia Roy Emerson 1936 8109
Roller sports Inline speed skating United States Chad Hedrick 1977 5014468 [5]
Roller artistic skating Italy Roberto Riva 1986 101011 [6]
Water sports Swimming United States Michael Phelps 1985 266133
Diving Russia Dmitri Sautin 1974 5139
Canoe sprint Romania Ivan Patzaichin 1974 94922
Rowing Italy Daniele Gilardoni 1976 111113 [7]
Sailing Denmark Paul Elvstrøm 1928 112215 [8]
Winter sports Alpine skiing Norway Kjetil André Aamodt 1971 54312
Biathlon Norway Ole Einar Bjørndalen 1974 1912940
Bobsleigh Italy Eugenio Monti 1928-2003 91010 [9]
Skeleton Switzerland Gregor Stähli 1968 43310
Luge Italy Armin Zöggeler 1974 65516
Cross-country skiing Norway Bjørn Dæhlie 1967 105419
Ski jumping Finland Janne Ahonen 1977 53210
Nordic combined Norway Bjarte Engen Vik 1971 5308 [10]
Freestyle skiing France Edgar Grospiron 1969 3003
Snowboarding Canada Jasey Jay Anderson 1968 4004
Figure skating Sweden Ulrich Salchow 1877-1949 113014
Speed skating Netherlands Sven Kramer 1986 161219 [11]
Short track speed skating South Korea Ahn Hyun-Soo 1985 2011435 [11][12]
Olympic sports Athletics Jamaica Usain Bolt 1986 112013
Artistic Gymnastics Belarus Vitaly Scherbo 1972 127423
Fencing Hungary Aladár Gerevich 1910-1991 141318
Triathlon United Kingdom Simon Lessing 1971 4217
Weightlifting Russia Vasily Alekseyev 1967 8008
Paralympic sports Athletics Switzerland Marcel Hug 1986 78015
Team sports Baseball Cuba Pedro Luis Lazo 1973 7203
Basketball Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Krešimir Ćosić 1948-1995 2204
Beach volleyball Brazil Emanuel Rego 1973 2103
Curling Canada Randy Ferbey 1959 4105
Field hockey Pakistan Akhtar Rasool 1954 3104 [13]
Football Brazil Pelé 1940 3003
Football (club) Spain Víctor Valdés 1982 2103
Spain Xavi 1980
Handball France Didier Dinart 1977 3025
Ice Hockey Soviet Union Vladislav Tretiak 1914-1992 101213
Volleyball Italy Marco Bracci
Italy Andrea Gardini
Italy Andrea Giani
Italy Ferdinando De Giorgi
1966
1965
1970
1961
3003
Waterpolo Spain Salvador Gómez
Spain Jesús Rollán
1968
1968-2006
2204
Women
Category Sport Athlete Born Tot. Ref.
Bicycle racing Cycling (road) France Jeannie Longo 1958 93214
BMX racing Argentina Gabriela Diaz 1981 4217
Mountain bike racing (XC) Norway Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå 1980 4206
Mountain bike racing (DH) France Anne-Caroline Chausson 1976 9009
Olympic sports Athletics United States Allyson Felix 1985 93113
Tennis[14] United States Martina Navratilova 1956 19625
Tennis (team) United States Chris Evert 1954 718
Paralympic sports Athletics United States Tatyana McFadden 1989 121112
Team sports Beach volleyball United States Misty May-Treanor 1977 3104
United States Kerri Walsh Jennings 1978
Football
United States Christie Rampone 1975 2125
United States Kristine Lilly 1971 2035
United States Brandi Chastain 1968 2024
United States Joy Fawcett 1968
United States Julie Foudy 1971
United States Mia Hamm 1972
United States Michelle Akers 1966 2013
Germany Birgit Prinz 1977 2002
Germany Kerstin Stegemann 1977
Germany Martina Müller 1980
Germany Renate Lingor 1975
Water sports Swimming United States Missy Franklin 1995 112316
Diving China Guo Jingjing 1981 111012
Winter sports Figure skating Norway Sonja Henie 1912-1969 101011
Open
Category Sport Athlete Born Tot. Ref.
Motor sports Formula One Germany Michael Schumacher 1969 72312
Grand Prix Motorcycle racing Italy Giacomo Agostini 1942 155121
Motorboat racing Italy Guido Cappellini 1959 102214 [15]
Motorboat racing (offshore) United Kingdom Steve Curtis 1964 85 4 17
Speedway Denmark Hans Nielsen 1959 2211841
Motocross Belgium Stefan Everts 1972 104113 [16]
Rallying France Sébastien Loeb 1974 91010
Radio controlled racing Japan Masami Hirosaka 1970 145625 [17]
Sports car & GT racing United Kingdom Derek Bell 1941 2114
Belgium Jacky Ickx 1945 2114
France Jean-Louis Schlesser 1948 2103
Sidecar racing United Kingdom Steve Webster 1960 104317
Trials riding Spain Antoni Bou 1986 160016
(Production) Superbike racing United Kingdom Carl Fogarty 1965 4206
Touring car racing France Yvan Muller 1969 4217
Olympic sports Equestrian Germany Reiner Klimke[18] 1936-1999 6006 [19]
Mixed
Category Sport Athlete Born Tot. Ref.
Winter sports Figure skating Soviet Union Irina Rodnina 1949 100010
Olympic sports Tennis United States Serena Williams 1981 2103
Spain Tommy Robredo 1982 2103
United States James Blake 1979 2002
Slovakia Dominik Hrbatý 1978 2002
Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 1971 2002

Games

A fuller list can be found on the List of world championships in mind sports page.

Eating

See also

References

  1. Time trial event.
  2. Greco-Roman event.
  3. "Multi-Medalists Top 15" (PDF). issf-sports.org. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  4. The master, which qualifies the tennis world ranking, is considered the World Championship of individual tennis.
  5. "In-line skating". archive.org. Archived from the original on 2010-11-28. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  6. "Figure Skating Senior World Championships - Roll of Honour" (PDF). rollersports.org. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  7. Daniele Gilardon at WorldRowing.com from FISA
  8. "Paul Elvstrøm - Results". sailing.org. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  9. Bobsleigh world championships multiple medallist
  10. Nordic combined world championships multiple medallist
  11. 1 2 Are held three world championships.
  12. "South Korean short track skater Ahn Hyun-Soo became the most successful skater in the short track at the World Championships" (PDF). Indiaenews.com. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  13. "WORLD CUP DISTINCTIONS". phf.com.pk. Archived from the original on January 1, 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  14. The master, which qualifies the tennis world ranking, is considered the World Championship of individual tennis.
  15. "DAC Racing". class-1.com. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  16. ca:Stefan Everts
  17. "Hirosaka, Masami | IFMAR". Rcranking.net. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  18. Dressage event.
  19. "Reiner Klimke - Results". the-sports.org. Retrieved 20 April 2012.

External links

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