Sports

1. Vroom!
Michael Schumacher passed the checkered flag for a fourth World Championship and a pair of records. A 52nd Formula One victory for the German driver outpaced Alain Prost both in races won and championship points scored. Poor Prost lost more than his No. 1 spots: his F1 racing team ran out of track and called in the receivers.

2. Redemption
Wunderkind-who-lost-her-way Jennifer Capriati made a spectacular comeback by outstroking Martina Hingis and Kim Clijsters to take the Australian and French Opens and reached No. 1 in the world rankings for three weeks. Despite Lindsay Davenport’s lastminute reclaiming of the ace spot, the International Tennis Federation named Capriati 2001 world champion, alongside Australian superstar Lleyton Hewitt. 3. Fleet of foot
Africa’s athletes ran off with 24 medals at the World Championships in Edmonton. The men took every distance race from 1,500 m up while the continent’s women notched victories at 400 m, 800 m, 10,000 m, 400-m hurdles and the high jump. Outstanding was Morocco’s Hicham el Guerrouj, who claimed his 51st win in 53 finals of the 1,500 m.

4. Slugger
Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki had a surprise in store for those who thought Japan’s seven-time Batting Champion might not cut the mustard in the big leagues. Voted American League Rookie of the Year and MVP, Suzuki wowed U.S. baseball fans with a .350 batting average and charm, including a right-on imitation of Mariners radio broadcaster Dave Niehaus.

5. She Sloops to Conquer
Though Frenchman Michel Desjoyeaux won the solo Vende Globe Round the World yacht race, Britain’s tiny (1.57 m tall) Ellen MacArthur earned the loudest cheers. Her gutsy 94-day voyage drew a crowd of 200,000 to the Sables d’Olonne finish line in France to hail the youngest — she’s 24 — and the quickest woman ever to complete the race.

6. Splash!
The 18-year-old swimmer with the size 17 feet, Ian Thorpe — the Thorpedo — avenged a disappointing 2000 Olympics, where he won (only!) three golds. At the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, the Australian took an unprecedented six titles and set three individual world records.

7. Hot Shot
English football’s golden boy Michael Owen raised his game and his value — the Italian Serie A team Lazio wants to pay $57 million for him — by scoring three goals against Germany, setting England on course to play in the 2002 World Cup finals.

8. Wicket Ways
An icon to fans in his native India, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar became the first batsman to reach 10,000 one-day runs. The only record the modest 28-year-old is in no danger of grabbing is the 99.94 Test average of Australia’s Sir Donald Bradman, who died this year.

9. Hoop and Glory
Spanish basketball star Pau Gasol, a first-round pick in the 2001 NBA draft, became leading scorer for the Memphis Grizzlies. But he was held to only six points against the Washington Wizards, whose faltering form was rescued by the return of creaking 38-year-old Michael Jordan.

10. Spokesman
It’s becoming almost monotonous. American cycling machine Lance Armstrong won a third successive Tour de France — all the while protesting that his yellow jersey is not stained with drug use.