With the haziness of the New Year celebrations behind us, it is time to clear our minds and look ahead to what sporting gems 2022 has in store for us. Get your brand new calendars out, this is how this sporting year is set to pan out.
17-30 January - Australian Open, Melbourne
With any luck, this will mark Emma Raducanu’s return to Grand Slam action after winning the US Open while Andy Murray should also feature.
4-20 February - Winter Olympics, Beijing
Great Britain have won five medals at the last two Winter Olympics and 50 Team GB stars will head to China in a bid to surpass that total.
5 Feb-19 March - Rugby Union - Six Nations
Can Wales retain their crown or will England be able to find some consistency after beating world champions South Africa? France are early favourites with Betfred, but this could be anybody’s tournament.
4-13 March - Winter Paralympics, Beijing
Team GB won seven medals back in 2018 but Menna Fitzpatrick, our only gold medalist from 2018, will hope to have company on top of the podium this time around.
20 March - Formula One, Bahrain
The Formula One season begins. Lewis Hamilton vs Max Verstappen round two. If it is anything like 2021 then we are in for a treat.
4 March- 3 April - Cricket - Women's ODI World Cup, New Zealand
One of many tournaments that was postponed a year because of the Covid pandemic, England will try to defend the title they won on home soil in 2017 but Australia will start as favourites.
24 March - Football - World Cup European qualification semi-finals: Wales vs Austria, Scotland vs Ukraine
Scotland and Wales could set up a play-off final that will see them face each other in Cardiff on 29 March for a place at the World Cup. That would be huge, while the draw also means either Euro 2016 winners Portugal, or Euro 2020 winners Italy, will not be in Qatar.
9 April - Horse racing - Grand National, Aintree
Can Rachael Blackmore make it back-to-back wins after becoming the first female jockey to win the Grand National on Minella Times in 2021?
14 May - Football - FA Cup final, Wembley
A pinnacle of the English football calendar. Leicester the current holders.
15 May - Football - Women's FA Cup final, Wembley
Chelsea completed a belated domestic treble with a delayed win over Arsenal, and will be looking to defend their crown just one day after the men do battle.
28 May - Football - Champions League final, St Petersburg
Chelsea beat Manchester City in last year’s final, but with Premier League clubs looking strong again, could we see another all-English final?
2 June to 12 September - Cricket - England men vs New Zealand, India and South Africa
Surely the summer can’t be as bad as the Ashes? Please.
27 June-10 July - Tennis - Wimbledon
Two brilliant weeks of the summer sporting calendar as tennis comes to SW19. Raducanu will return to the court that served her so well before her US Open win while Cameron Norrie had a strong 2021 and could go far.
3 July - Formula 1 - British Grand Prix, Silverstone
Lewis Hamilton may have won the battle at Silverstone last year but he would ultimately lose the war with Max Verstappen as the Red Bull driver stole the World Championship on the final lap of the final race.
6-31 July - Football - Women's Euro 2022, England
England haven’t won the European Championships, ever. Can the women go one step further than the men did on home soil?
14-17 July - Golf - The Open, The Old Course, St Andrews
The home of golf hosts the 150th Open Championship and Tiger Woods could return after nearly losing his leg in a car crash. Collin Morikawa is the current holder of the Claret Jug.
15-24 July - Athletics - World Championships, Eugene, Oregon, United States
Dina Asher-Smith and Katarina Johnson-Thompson will want to defend their world titles, while other Olympic stars will also take to the track.
28 July-8 August - Commonwealth Games, Birmingham
The schedule features more medal events for women than men for the first time in Commonwealth Games history, as well as a fully integrated Para-sport programme. They will also be a women's T20 cricket tournament held alongside the traditional Commonwealth sports.
6 August - Football - New season begins
The new Premier League season will begin earlier than usual to accommodate the Qatar World Cup.
8 Oct-12 Nov - Rugby Union - Women's World Cup, New Zealand
England are the best team in the world, on a run of 18 straight wins and should return from New Zealand with the World Cup. The hosts will be their biggest threats.
15 Oct-19 Nov - Rugby League World Cup, England
Delayed by a year due to Covid, England will want to win the whole tournament, which will now feature Australia and New Zealand.
17 Oct-14 Nov - Cricket - Men's T20 World Cup, Australia
England lost to New Zealand in the semi-final of this competition in November but will look to make amends a year later, although hosts Australia will be tough to beat.
21 Nov-18 Dec - Football - World Cup, Qatar
It’s coming home.