The winners of the prestigious 2026 World Sports Photography Awards have been officially announced, showcasing the very best in global sporting imagery from the past year. This year's competition smashed all previous records, receiving a staggering 23,130 image submissions from more than 4,120 photographers hailing from 123 different countries.
A Global Showcase of Sporting Excellence
As the only global competition dedicated solely to sports photography, the awards highlight extraordinary moments of athleticism, emotion, and atmosphere across 24 distinct categories. The overall gold award, which also secured the tennis category gold, was captured by Edgar Su of Reuters. The winning photograph, titled 'Carlos' Shadow Hits a Ball', freezes a powerful moment of Carlos Alcaraz hitting a forehand during his fourth-round match at the 2025 Australian Open against Britain's Jack Draper.
Morgan Treacy of Inpho clinched the Equestrian: Gold Award with 'Equine Reflection', a serene shot of runners and riders on the beach at Laytown. Meanwhile, the overall silver award, coupled with the aquatic gold, went to Beatriz Ryder Da Costa for 'The Underworld'. This dramatic image, captured deep in the Solomon Islands amidst concerns over saltwater crocodiles, encapsulates a raw and chaotic moment of surfing adventure.
Category Champions From Around the World
The breadth of winning work is truly international. In athletics, Kenjiro Matsuo's 'Tokyo Rocket' captured Japan's Momone Ueda launching a javelin during the heats of the 2025 World Athletics Championships. The football gold was awarded to Luis Amaral for 'Black & White Passion', an emotional frame of a father and son celebrating a goal at an Atlético Mineiro match in Brazil.
Other notable category winners include:
- Cricket & Overall Bronze: Richard Heathcote's digital composite of multiple moments from day one of the third Test between England and India at Lord's.
- Boxing: Alexis Goudeau's shot of Russia's Arslan Yallyev landing a huge uppercut on France's Tony Yoka.
- Rugby: Andrew Dowling's powerful image of the New Zealand haka performed at Cardiff's Principality Stadium before facing Wales.
- Winter Sports: Germain Favre-Felix's breathtaking 'North', featuring France's Richard Permin skiing alone in a vast, snowy landscape.
The awards also celebrated more niche and extreme sports. The Urban & Extreme gold went to Martin Bissig for 'Kickflippin' India', showing an athlete launching across an ancient Jaipur stepwell. In martial arts, Tom Jenkins of The Guardian won for an unusual sumo moment where Tobizaru stuck a finger up the nose of Takayasu at London's Royal Albert Hall.
Celebrating the Art Behind the Action
The record-breaking submission numbers for the 2026 awards underscore the growing prestige and global reach of sports photography as an art form. The winning images go beyond mere documentation; they tell stories of dedication, passion, and the sheer physical poetry of sport. From the intimate concentration of a table tennis player's serve to the deafening roar of 110,000 fans at an American football game, the collection provides a unparalleled visual narrative of the sporting year.
The full gallery of silver, bronze, and special merit images from all categories offers further testament to the skill and creativity of photographers worldwide who specialize in capturing the decisive moment.
