Murray Powers GBR to Davis Cup Win
Great Britain won their tenth overall Davis Cup title after Scot Andy Murray won the third match of the weekend, his second singles win after the opening singles on day one and doubles on day two. In beating David Goffin of Belgium in three sets, Murray completed an impressive run for himself and Team GBR in beating the USA, France, Australia and now Belgium en route to the title.

China Leads Trampoline Worlds
At the conclusion of the Trampoline and Tumbling Worlds in Odense, China topped the medal table for a sixth straight time, with 13 totals podium appearances across the trampoline, tumbling, and double mini events. Leading the way were Gao Lei emerging as champion on the men's side, to give China its seventh straight men's win. Meanwhile, China also won the women's competition with Li Dan, who last won the the women's title in 2010, and came back to win this year's event ahead of compatriot Li Lingling. Also at stake were Olympic berths: China, Russia and Japan earned two slots on the men's side, with China, Belarus and Great Britain the same for the women.

And Also Weightlifting Worlds
At the conclusion of the World Weightlifting Championships in Houston, China added this sport to their dominant team performances of the year, finishing on top here as well, with ten overall (big) medals to Russia's nine in second place. Chinese champions included Chen Lijun (62kg) and Shi Zhiyong (69kg) for the men, and Jiang Huihua (48kg), Deng Weit (63kg), Xiang Yanmei (69kg), and Kang Yue (75kg). Also causing some attention was North Korea, whose athletes won six big medals, for fourth overall. They were led by Om Yun-Chol breaking his own world record in the men's snatch and clean & jerk of the 56kg class, and Rim Jong-Sin fighting injury to claim a dramatic silver in the women's 75kg.

Japan Rugby Scores Again
After a month-long Asian Olympic qualification tournament that started with an initial 14 teams, Japan stood last to win a berth at Rio. Defeating Kazakhstan 14-7 in the second leg of the final pairing, the 'Sakura Sevens' join the Japanese men at the Olympics for the inaugural rugby sevens event. The Asian qualifier also concluded the continental portion of competition for Rio, with only a final general qualification tournament to be held next year to fill the 12th and final spot. Kazakhstan, China, and Hong Kong move on from Asia to try their luck in that event, against 13 other teams, including Russia, Ireland, Spain, and Mexico.

​While Qatar Makes History
The Asian handball qualification tournament was also completed this week in Doha, with Qatar earning their ticket to their first-ever team sport event at the Olympics, after a 28-19 win over Iran in the final. And, true to recent Qatari and rich Persian Gulf tendency of late, the team was built of mainly foreign-born players - in this case, Montenegrin and Bosnian. Iran and third-place Bahrain will move onto the final Olympic Qualification Tournaments next year for a final chance.

Gile Scott Repeats as Finn World Champ
The Finn Gold Cup ended this weekend with Giles Scott of Great Britain winning his third Finn sailing world title (2014, 2010) and the tenth win for GBR since 2002. France's Jonathan Lobert, with two wins in the last three races, finished in second over Slovenia's Vasilij Zbogar. Those three had already secured Olympic qualifications, but nations earning a slip in Rio from this event were the Netherlands, Greece, Estonia, and Uruguay.

And Ann-Marie Lindom Wins Her First Worlds in Laser Radial
Denmarks' Ann-Marie Lindom won her first title in women's Laser Radial, defeating defending champion Marit Bouwmeester of the Netherlands by 13 points. It also marked the seventh time in the last nine years that Scandinavia has had a medalist. Japan, Australia, Turkey and Australia earned Olympic berths from this event.

European Curling Champions Crowned
The 2015 European Curling Championships were held in Esbjerg, Denmark, with Sweden and Russia taking titles in the men's and women's competition, respectively. For Sweden, it was their fourth title under skip Niklas Edin, and came at the expense of Switzerland 7-6. Norway defeated Finland 7-4 for bronze. Russia's win was also their third overall on the women's side, after 2006 and 2012. Finishing second was Scotland, who also lost to Russia in the '12 final, and in third was Finland over Denmark.
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Gaultier Finally Wins Squash World Championship
After four previous finals appearances in 13 Championship appearances, Frenchman Gregory Gaultier finally won the world title, after defeating Egyptian #7 seed Omar Mosaad, 3-0 at the squash World Open Championship in Bellevue. The #3 seed entering the tournament, Gaultier defeated England's James Willstrop in the semifinal round to earn a another chance at the world championship, after reaching the final last in 2013. His long, illustrious career has been marked by a #1 ranking in 2009, with two U.S. Open and two British Open titles.

While Djokovic Wins His Fourth Straight ATP Final
Novak Djokovic of Serbia defeated long-time rival Roger Federer of Switzerland to claim the year-end ATP World Finals in London, 6-3 6-4 this weekend. The victory is Djokovic's fourth straight in the event, his fifth overall since 2008, the second straight over Federer and the third overall Finals win against him. (Quite a rivalry!) It also completes a year in which he won all Grand Slams except the French, a feat he also had achieved in 2011.

49er Sailing Worlds Decided
After six days of competition, the 49er and 49erFX Worlds concluded with skiff class champions crowned and Olympic berths secured in Buenos Aires. On the women's 49erFX side, Italians Giulia Conti and Francesca Clapcich won the gold, after a solid victory in the final race, which had featured six teams with enough potential podium points. Team Brazil - Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze - finished second, with Denmark's Ida Nielsen and Marie Olson third (ahead of another Danish boat in fourth). Argentina (11th), Singapore (13th), and Canada (17th) won boat entries for Rio. For the men in the 49er class, the drama was certainly less for the gold, as New Zealanders Peter Burling and Blair Tuke had a 30-point lead into the final race. They did secure their third straight World Championship - and their 23rd straight win the the skiff class, while Nathan Outerridge and Iain Jensen of Australia overcame three other boats for the silver. Spain's Federico Alonso and Arturo Alonso secured bronze. Poland (4th), Germany (5th), and Argentina (7th) won the Olympic berths on hand.

South Korea Crowned Baseball World Champs
The inaugural WBSC Premier12 concluded over the weekend in Tokyo, with South Korea taking the gold over the U.S., 8-0. The final marked the 1st time the U.S. has lost to their rivals since the 2008 Olympics in a major tournament, and came as a surprise given the Koreans' #8 ranking. With the prospect of baseball returning to the Games in 2020, the relatively new World Baseball Softball Confederation launched the tournament as the world championship, featuring the top 12-ranked teams. Participation in this Championship also included Japan (3rd place), Mexico, Canada, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, the Netherlands, Italy, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.

Czechs Win Fed Cup Again
​The Czech Republic successfully defended its Fed Cup title from 2014 after defeating Russia in Prague over the weekend in a close 3-2 final. The victory in the last match by the doubles team of Karolina Plisokova and Barbara Strycova earned the nation, long a tennis power, its ninth overall Cup title, and its fourth in five years. Earlier, Pliskova had sent the match to the deciding doubles match by defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets. Russia had been the only other nation with a similar string of success.

Pacific-Asian Champs Crowned in Curling
The annual 2015 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships ended in Kazakhstan this weekend, with South Korea's men and Japan's women earning titles. On the men's side, the Koreans defeated New Zealand and then Japan in the single eliminations to win gold after the 8-team round robin stage, for their second-ever title since winning in 2002. Japan's women earned their 14th championship since 1991, defeating South Korea in the final. All four finalists will move on to the 2016 World Championships.

North Korea Wins AFC's U-16's
Asia's under-16 tournament for women's football concluded this weekend, with North Korea finally winning again after titling in 2007 and having three straight runners-up finishes in 2009, 2011, and 2013. As runners-up this year - the final was 1-0 to the North Koreans, Japan will join the champions as the official Asian representatives at the 2016 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Jordan. Forward Ri Hyae-Yon won the tournament's MVP trophy, after scoring the lone goal in the final match. China defeated Thailand 8-0 in the third place match.

Kenya Wins Rugby Olympic Berth
At the conclusion of the African Rugby Men's Sevens Championship, Kenya stood on top and with a berth to Rio 2016, after defeating Zimbabwe 21-19 in the final. This marks the third-ever team sport, after men's field hockey and women's volleyball, that will have a Kenyan representative at the Olympics. Meanwhile, in finishing second through fourth, Zimbabwe, Tunisia and Morocco move on to a final Olympic Qualifying tournament along with 13 other nations to fill one last spot in Rio. South Africa, despite being hosts for this tournament, did not participate, as they already qualified for Rio through the Sevens World Series.

And Oceania Names its Rugby Olympic Representatives
Meanwhile, the Oceania Sevens Championships ended as well, with Australia earning the title - and the Olympic berth on the men's side, with Fiji capturing the prize on the women's. The Australian win was emphatic, defeating Tonga 50-0, and was expected after rivals Samoa surprisingly did not advance out of the semis. Samoa did make it to the women's final, though, but fell to Fiji 55-0. With the victory, Fiji is now entrants in three (!) team events at Rio: Men's and Women's Rugby Sevens, and Men's Football.

Russia Faces Well-Deserved Ban from IAAF
ln perhaps the biggest news in Olympic sport this week, the IAAF responded to a damning WADA investigation on doping in probably the only way they could, by provisionally suspending the Russian track federation indefinitely - or, until it "fulfills a list of criteria". After learning from the WADA report of systemic doping cover-ups and testing mismanagement from federation authorities, including senior-level officials in Russia, the IAAF really had no choice in the first major test for the new president, Sebastian Coe. While the suspension does not stop Russian athletes from competing as individual athletes in various domestic competitions, it does disallow Team Russia to present a team in any IAAF-sanctioned event or Championships. That certainly could include the Olympic Games, should the suspension last until then, but most immediately, it does include the 2016 World Race Walking Team Championships and the 2016 World Junior Championships, both of which were scheduled in Russia. Those specific events will be awarded to new host. Meanwhile, a lot of focus has been directed to Mariya Savinova, the 800m gold medalist in London 2012 who was indicated in the WADA report as illegally having escaped competitive bans in order to compete there. Should she, and bronze winner Ekaterina Poistogova, have those Olympic results annulled, medals in that event could be re-assigned to include South Africa's Caster Semenya moving to gold, Kenya's Pamela Jelimo to silver and USA's Alysia Montano to bronze. Let's hope that is the next step for the IOC here.

Japan Secures Rio Rugby Berth
At the conclusion of the Asian Rugby Football Union Sevens Championship in Hong Kong, Japan defeated the hosts 24-10 to claim the Asian representative berth for Rio 2016. The favorites entering the event, the Japanese Sevens side now will participate in the inaugural Olympic competition, and continue a strong showing for the home nation after an impressive Rugby World Cup run this fall. Finishing second through fourth, Hong Kong, South Korea and Sri Lanka now move on to the 16-team Olympic Qualification tournament for a last chance at one spot.

Nigeria Repeats as U-17 Champions
FIFA's U-17 World Cup concluded in Vina del Mar, Chile this weekend, with a familiar victor, as five-time​ champion Nigeria came out on top in the all-Africa final after defeating Mali 2-0. This was also the second straight Cup for the Nigerian U-17's, and solidified their position as age-level powers in a tournament only held sixteen times since 1985. Ghana (2), Mexico (2) and Brazil (3) are the only other nations with multiple titles, and this win by Nigeria also marks the ninth time an African team has won. Belgium won the third-place game, overcoming Mexico 3-2.

New Zealand Wins Rugby World Cup
After 44 days of competition, the Rugby World Cup in England finally ended, with defending champion New Zealand earning their third overall title (1987, 2011, 2015). ​With their dominating win over arch rival Australia, 34-17, the All Blacks are being considered one of the all time great teams, and are already pipped as early favorites for the next tournament in 2019. To add to the adulation from the press and fans, New Zealand's star fly-half Dan Carter was named World Rugby Player of the Year.

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Women's Tennis Comes to a Close
With Serena Williams out recovering from the long season and injury, the WTA Finals in Singapore had become more of an open affair. In the end, Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska won the title and the $1.75M+ champion's prize money, after a three-set win over Czech Petra Kvitova. On the doubles side, Swiss Martina Hingis and Indian Sania Mirza continued their remarkable year, with a victory to go along with their Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles.

South Africa Wins Continental Hockey...Next Rio?
Both men's and women's field hockey titles went to favorite South Africa in the African Championships, after disposing of Eygpt 4-2 (men) and Ghana (3-0) in the final matches. Accordingly, both teams qualified to represent the continent at the Rio Games next year, yet may not participate. This, due to a stricter qualification criteria set by the South African Olympic Committee, to not rely on continental dominance and instead concentrate on global competitiveness. The SASCOC has two weeks to accept or decline the Olympic invite. While the men are currently ranked 15th in the world (New Zealand, ranked #7, would replace them), the possibility to not go to Rio would particularly sting for the women's team. They are currently ranked #11, and would be replaced by #14 Spain in the 12-team tournament.

Liu Wins Another Table Tennis World Cup
The Women's World Cup in table tennis ended in Sendai, with China's favorite and tope seed Liu Shiwen taking the title once more. Beating Japan's Kasumi Ishikawa in four sets, Liu has now won all 21 of her cumulative matches in the four World Cups she has entered (2009, 2012, 2013, 2015). For her part, ishikawa became teh first Japanese in the final, while third-place winner Petrissa Solja won the first podium for Germany.

China Also Wins IPC Athletics
The paralympic IPC World Championships ended in Doha, with China topping the medal table with 85 overall to Russia's 69 in second place over the 210 events. The U.S. finished with 39 medals in third place. Walid Ktila of Tunisia was the most successful athlete, with four golds in wheelchair races, while Germany's Ilke Wyludda earned a bronze in the shot put - after winning the 1996 gold in the Olympic discus. Following leg amputation, she now could become the first athlete to medal in both the Olympics and Paralympics, should she equal or better her shot put placement next year in Rio.

Biles and Uchimura Dominate Gymnastics Worlds
​At the World Artistic Gymnastics in Glasgow, familiar faces and stars topped the all-around results. First, the U.S.' Simone Biles defended her last two championships, and became the first to woman to win three all-arounds in a row. That, after leading the team to gold in the first competition. Then, she finished with the tournament with two more golds in the beam and floor, for a record ten career golds. With defending Olympic champion Gabby Douglas competing again, and finishing second in the all-around in Glasgow, the American women are well-poised for more glory in Rio. (p.s. Biles's only 18!) The same can certainly be said for Kohei Uchimura, who, after leading Japan to its first team gold since 1978, took the men's all-around for the sixth time. Despite narrowly leading the all-around qualification over Ukraine's Oleg Verniaiev, he wasn't seriously challenged in the final. Like Biles, Uchimura ended on top, with a gold in the high bar, and with sights on a repeat in Rio. Other highlights of the Championships included Cuba's newcomer Manique Larduet winning all-around silver, Max Whitlock winning Britain's first-ever world gold (pommel), Great Britain winning both team bronze medals, and Romania disaster-ly missing the top eight in the women's team and failing an early chance at Olympic qualification.

Kenya Again on top NYC Marathon
The annual New York Marathon was held this weekend, with Kenya winning both the men's and women's elite races again. First, Mary Keitany won the women's race in 2:24.25, over a minute ahead of Ethiopia's Aselefech Mergia, for her second straight NY win to go with her two London titles. On the men's side, Stanley Biwott defeated compatriot Geoffrey Kamworor by only 14 seconds, for his first major marathon title.