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Which is the largest football stadium in the world?

Association football is, far and away, the most popular spectator sport on the planet, with nearly half the population of the world taking an interest. Indeed, football dominates most of Europe, South America, Africa and Asia, and it is no real surprise that some of the largest football stadiums in the world are to be found on those continents.

In Africa, for example, the First National Bank (FNB) Stadium, also known as Soccer City, in Nasrec, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, is the third largest football stadium in the world. Originally built in 1987, the FNB Stadium was upgraded in preparation for the FIFA World Cup in 2010 – it was, in fact, the venue for the World Cup Final between Netherlands and Spain – and nowadays has a seating capacity of 94,736.

In Europe, the Camp Nou, which has been the home of Barcelona Football Club since 1957, is the largest football stadium on the continent and the second largest in the world. Built over a period of three years between 1954 and 1957, at a cost of 288,000,000 Ptas – approximately £3,500,000, allowing for inflation – Camp Nou has a seating capacity of 99,354 and the largest football stadium in Europe.

Perhaps surprisingly, the distinction of having the largest football stadium in the world belongs to Asia and, specifically, to North Korea, traditionally one of the least accessible countries in the world. The Rungrado May Stadium in the capital city, Pyongyang, was built in 1989 and has floor space in excess of 50 acres, not to mention capacity for 114,000 spectators.

What is Hawk-Eye and when was it first used in tennis?

Hawk-Eye™ is an officiating tool, intended to assist human line judges by providing an impartial second opinion on close line calls. Hawk-Eye uses a series of computer-controlled cameras, up to ten in total, placed around the court to gather information on the speed and trajectory of the ball. Using triangulation or, in other words, by determining the location of a point by forming triangles to that point from other, known points and measuring the angles of the triangles, Hawk-Eye constructs an animation of the most likely path, statistically, of the ball.

If a player challenges a line call, the animation can displayed on a screen, which can be seen by everyone involved, including spectators, to remove any doubt about whether a ball has bounced in or out. Hawk-Eye uses an algorithm, or a series of computer instructions, to estimate where a ball should have landed but, while it is not infallible, it is accurate to within a few millimetres and approved by the ITF, which employs the technology in 80 tournaments worldwide.

Hawk-Eye technology was first employed in a tournament sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) at the Hopman Cup in Perth, Western Australia and in a Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour event at the Miami Open, formerly the NASDAQ-100 Open, at Key Biscayne, Florida in 2006. The U.S. Open, later in 2006, was the first ‘Grand Slam’ event to use Hawk-Eye technology.

Who was the first Wimbledon champion?

The Wimbledon Championships were first staged at the AllEngland Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, in 1877. The inaugural Championships featured just one event, the Gentlemen’s Singles, which was contested by twenty-one amateur players, each of whom paid an entrance fee of £1 1s 0d, or a ‘guinea’. The tournament started on July 9, 1877 and the final was played ten days later after being postponed from the Monday to the Thursday because of rain. In a one-sided final, Spencer Gore, a 27-year-old rackets player, beat William Marshall, a 28-year-old real tennis player, in straight sets. Gore received a silver cup, donated by ‘The Field’ magazine, and 12 guineas in prize money.

The first Ladies’ Singles competition was not staged until 1884, by which time the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club had dropped ‘Croquet’ from its name to become, simply, the All England Lawn Tennis Club. The inaugural female champion was 19-year-old Maud Watson, who defeated her elder sister, Lillian, by two sets to one in the final. Miss Watson received a silver flower basket and 20 guineas in prize money.

What is the longest drive ever recorded?

Officially – that is, according to Guinness World Records – the longest drive ever recorded in competitive golf was 515 yards, achieved by the late Michael Hoke  ‘Mike’ Austin during a qualifying tournament for the U.S. Senior National Open at Winterwood Golf Course, Las Vegas in 1974. Using an old-fashioned persimmon driver, Austin achieved a carry of over 400 yards and when his ball came to rest it was some 65 yards past the flagstick on the par-4 fifth hole.

However, unofficially, the longest drive ever recorded was an eye-watering 787 yards, achieved by Carl Hooper in the Texas Open at Oak Hills Country Club, San Antonio in 1992. Hooper used a metal driver, but a rudimentary model. Nevertheless, his tee shot on the par-4 third hole landed on a concrete cart path and began a protracted journey to a spot behind the twelfth green, some 300 yards beyond his intended target. The general consensus was that the ball had travelled at least 750 yards from the third tee and his caddy worked out the yardage as 787 yards.

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