Year-ender: Top 10 world athletes of 2022

As the sporting year draws to a close, here is Xinhua News Agency's selection of the world's top 10 athletes in 2022:

1. Gu Ailing (China, freestyle skiing)

Ailing claimed gold medals in the women's big air and halfpipe and a bar of silver in slopestyle at the Beijing Winter Olympics, becoming the first freestyle skier to win three medals in three different events at a single Winter Olympics.

2. Lionel Messi (Argentina, football)

Messi helped Argentina win the World Cup in Qatar after 36 years. With seven goals and three assists, Messi won the tournament's Golden Ball. He also became the most-capped player at the World Cup with 26 appearances.

3. Irene Schouten (Netherlands, speed skating)

Dutch skater Schouten claimed gold medals in the women's 3,000m, 5,000m and mass start events at the Beijing Winter Olympics and also took a bronze in the team pursuit with her teammates. In March, Schouten won the Allround title at the World Speed Skating Championships in Hamar, Norway.

4. Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya, athletics)

38-year-old Kipchoge claimed the 48th Berlin Marathon title with a new world record of two hours, one minute and nine seconds, breaking his own record from 2018 by 30 seconds.

5. Armand Duplantis (Sweden, athletics)

Duplantis broke the men's pole vault world record three times in the 2022 season, winning 18 of the 19 competitions he competed in and clearing six meters 23 times. He refreshed the world record with 6.21 meters at the World Athletics Championships in July.

6. Karim Benzema (France, football)

Benzema claimed the 2022 Ballon d'Or after a dazzling season with Real Madrid, which saw the Spanish giants win both La Liga and the UEFA Champions League. He also became the top scorer in both domestic and continental tournaments.

7. Rafael Nadal (Spain, tennis)

Nadal won his 14th French Open title, making him the first player in the Open era to win 22 Grand Slam men's titles.

8. Katie Ledecky (United States, swimming)

Ledecky won the women's 800m freestyle at the FINA World Championships in Budapest, to take the fifth consecutive title in the event. In this tournament, the 25-year-old clinched four gold medals to take her world championship gold medal tally to 19. Ledecky also broke the women's short-course world record in the 1,500m and 800m freestyle at the FINA World Cup.

9. Iga Swiatek (Poland, tennis)

Swiatek won eight titles including the French Open and US Open in 2022 and set the record for the longest 37-winning streak in women's tennis in the 21st century. The 21-year-old finished the season as No.1 in the WTA year-end singles rankings.

10. Max Verstappen (Netherlands, Formula One)

Red Bull's Verstappen won the F1 Japanese Grand Prix to seal the 2022 F1 Drivers' World Championship title ahead of schedule. He then took a record 14th win in a single Formula 1 season with victory in the Mexico City Grand Prix, surpassing Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel's joint record of 13. With his win in the Abu Dhabi finale, Verstappen's single-season winning record was finally set at 15.