The past year in International Sports featured Jamaican Usain Bolt's continued dominance of sprint records, a stunning number of new standards in swimming, and a cheating scandal in Formula One. The International Olympic Committee also awarded the Summer Olympics to Rio de Janeiro, despite some last minute lobbying by U.S. President Barack Obama.
An announcement in October stunned the world and set off samba-themed celebrations in the streets of Rio de Janeiro.
After mounting an extensive campaign to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, including staging the Pan American games in 2007 and spending billions on new facilities, the South American candidate triumphed. IOC President Jacques Rogge made the announcement. "I have the honor to announce that the Games of the 31st Olympiad (in 2016) are awarded to the city of Rio de Janeiro," he said.
The South American city beat out Madrid, Tokyo and the U.S. city of Chicago (in the state of Illinois), despite last minute appeals in person by U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama.
Mr. Obama had flown to Copenhagen to lobby for his adopted home town, but not even his efforts were enough to swing the IOC, which awarded the Summer Games to South America for the first time ever.
As the 2009 Formula One auto racing season opened, the big controversy appeared to be a lot of hot air. Brawn GP, Williams and Toyota had special diffusers on the rear of their cars, and other teams said the devices gave the three teams an unfair advantage.
The dispute threatened the opening Grand Prix of the season in Melbourne, Australia, but the International Automobile Federation's Court of Appeals ruled the diffusers complied with the regulations.
Reigning driving champion Lewis Hamilton of Britain was the center of the season's first scandal when he was accused of lying about an overtaking incident at the Australian Grand Prix. Hamilton crossed the finish line fourth, but was promoted to third after Jarno Trulli of Toyota was penalized for passing the British driver under caution in the final laps.
The International Automobile Federation investigated the incident, found Hamilton had cheated, and the British driver was stripped of his points for the race.
But diffusers and Hamilton's ethics would pale by year's end, as one of the leading teams in the sport - Renault - would be embroiled in a cheating scandal.
The controversy - dubbed "Crashgate" by the media - involved the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. Renault team officials had ordered Brazilian Nelson Piquet, Jr., to deliberately crash at the night race, a move, which allowed former two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Spain to win.
The scandal would result in Renault receiving a two-year suspended ban and team principal Flavio Briatore banned for life. Chief Engineer Pat Symonds was handed a five-year ban. FIA head Max Mosley said that the sport would continue and the proper people had been punished.
"The blame has been placed where the blame should be placed, and I think that was the proper decision. We have had problems from time to time, but as long as we solve them and deal with them properly, that's fine," he said.
On the track, Britain's Jenson Button won six of the season's first seven races, including the Grand Prix of Monaco in his Brawn GP car. The British driver secured the 2009 championship with a fifth place finish at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
German driver Sebastien Vettel of Red Bull, a four-time winner on the Grand Prix circuit, was Button's main competitor.
FIA head Max Mosley agreed to step down after 16 years as president. His decision followed a controversy in which all 10 teams threatened to abandon Formula One and form their own rival racing circuit.
Mosley had proposed a spending limit on teams, which would benefit four newcomers in 2010 - Lotus, Campos, Virgin and US F1. The dispute was resolved late in the year, when teams signed a new Concorde Agreement that runs until 2012.
Two more teams - BMW and Toyota - withdrew from Formula One because of economic trouble.
Mercedes announced it would field a team after splitting from McLaren, but will continue to supply the British-based squad with engines. Ross Brawn, whose team won the constructors' title in 2009, will head the German squad.
In December, seven-time Formula One driving champion Michael Schumacher of Germany announced he would come out of retirement to race for Mercedes. The so-called "Red Baron" will partner with countryman Nico Rosberg in 2010.