Erling Haaland, Max Verstappen and Novak Djokovic were among the male stars to produce historic statistics in a memorable year of sport.
Marketa Vondrousova also made history as the first unseeded winner of the Wimbledon women’s single title, while Europe retained the Solheim Cup with an unprecedented draw against the United States.
Here, the PA news agency looks back at the standout numbers from 2023.
36 – Erling Haaland’s Premier League-record goal tally as he won last season’s Golden Boot.
280 and 62 – Harry Kane set new goalscoring records for both Tottenham and England, passing Jimmy Greaves’ 266 for Spurs in February and Wayne Rooney’s 53 for his country the following month. He also joined Rooney and Alan Shearer as only the third player with 200 Premier League goals, reaching 213 before leaving for Bayern Munich in the summer.
£106.8million – the British record transfer fee paid by Chelsea for Enzo Fernandez in January as part of Todd Boehly’s £1billion spending spree. Team-mate Moises Caicedo’s move from Brighton could break the record with add-ons potentially taking his price to £115m.
77,390 – A crowd of 77,390 watched Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0 in the Women’s FA Cup final, breaking the world record for a women’s domestic club fixture previously set when Atletico Madrid hosted Barcelona in 2019.
10 – points deducted from Everton for breaching Premier League financial regulations.
3 – Number of clean sheets kept by Mary Earps, who was awarded the Golden Glove after helping England reach the Women’s World Cup final, where she also saved a penalty in the 1-0 defeat to Spain.
19 – Max Verstappen won 19 of the 22 races as he took his third successive Formula One world title.
575 – Verstappen’s record points tally was more than double Sergio Perez’s second-placed 285.
24 – Novak Djokovic’s tally of grand slam titles after winning the Australian, French and US Opens this year – the most by a male player and tying Margaret Court’s all-time record.
1 – Marketa Vondrousova beat sixth seed Ons Jabeur 6-4 6-4 to become the first unseeded player to win the Wimbledon women’s singles title.
81 – Frankie Dettori retired from racing in Britain with an 81st Ascot winner aboard King of Steel in the Qipco Champion Stakes. That total includes nine Gold Cups as well as his unforgettable seven-timer in 1996 when he rode every winner on the card.
600 – Stuart Broad became only the fifth man to take 600 Test wickets, finishing his career with 604 as he retired after the Ashes.
26,643 – career first-class runs for former England captain Sir Alastair Cook, who retired in October.
89 – Australia won the only Test in the Women’s Ashes by 89 runs and went on to retain the urn after the series ended 8-8.
229 – England’s losing margin against South Africa during their dreadful Cricket World Cup defence was their highest by runs in a one-day international.
4 – South Africa won a record fourth Rugby World Cup, moving clear of final opponents New Zealand with their 12-11 win in Saint-Denis.
58,498 – The record crowd at Twickenham as England completed the Grand Slam in the Women’s Six Nations with a 38-33 victory over France.
16.5-11.5 – the score as Europe won the Ryder Cup in Rome.
14-14 – Europe retained the Solheim Cup after the first draw in the history of the contest in Spain.
37 – Simone Biles’ record tally of Olympic and World Championship medals after winning four golds and a silver in Antwerp in October. Her total includes four Olympic and 23 world golds.
47 – Ronnie O’Sullivan became snooker’s oldest UK champion aged 47, 30 years after his win aged 17 which still makes him the youngest. It was his eighth win in the event and his 22nd triple crown title.
20 – Katarina Johnson-Thompson won her second world heptathlon title by just 20 points in Budapest.
61-45 – The score as England lost to Australia in the Netball World Cup final in Cape Town.
