January 6: Football stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Michel Platini, Fabio Capello and Jose Mourinho were the featured guests at the 7th Dubai International Sports Conference.
January 25: Ethiopian runners swept the board in both the men’s and women’s races at the 14th Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon. Lelisa Desisa, 23, won the men’s category in 2:04:45, while strong favourite Tirfi Tsgaye clocked 2:23.23 to win the women’s event.
February 4: Scotsman Stephen Gallacher holed an eagle at the 16th hole and won the Dubai Desert Classic. Gallacher overcane early jitters to beat playing partner Richard Sterne by three shots.
February: Top seed and world No 1 Novak Djokovic from Serbia defeated Czech Tomas Berdych 7-5, 6-3 to win his fourth Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title in five years. Former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová beat Italian Sara Errani 6–2, 1–6, 6–1 to capture the women’s title.
March 30: Animal Kingdowm became the first American-trained horse to win the $10 million Dubai World Cup since it moved to the Meydan racecourse. The 2011 Kentucky Derby winner won by two lengths from British-trained contenders Red Cadeaux and Planteur.
May 18: 23rd Al Gafal Long Distance Race from Sir Bu Na’air Island to Mina Seyahi
July: Football legends from Barcelona, Real Madrid, Roma and Porto dazzled at Dubai Sports World in the 3rd Dubai Indoor Football Championship.
August: XCat World Series makes international move for the first time.
August 25-31: Stars of the future competed in the 4th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Dubai, which saw Australia top the medal table ahead of powerhouses the US and Russia. Mackenzie Horton (AUS) and Ruta Meilutyte (LTU) won four individual gold medals respectively.
September: UAE beat Oman to retain their place in Group III of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Asia/Oceania Zone.
September 27: NBA star Kobe Bryant made his first visit to the UAE to promote the Kobe Bryant Health and Fitness Weekend. The 35-year-old visited the Gems American Academy school in Abu Dhabi and the Knights Arena at American University in Dubai.
November 8: Nigeria became the most successful team in Fifa Under-17 World Cup history when they scored a 3-0 win over holders Mexico at the Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
