Fallou in the changing rooms before the Grand Prix Kirène. With the mayor of Thiès, the Minister of Livestock and the Minister of Sports watching from the stands, Fallou Diop won the first two races. At the end of the season the best jockey will be chosen; Fallou Diop has been named best jockey for the last three years. Along with wrestling and football, horse racing is one of the most popular sports in Senegal, with jockeys turning professional at a very young age. At the age of 19, Fallou Diop is a national star who is winning one victory after another and galvanising a youth that is striving for its future. Coming from an underprivileged background and having left school at the age of 12, nothing predestined Fallou to ride a racehorse, yet this young Senegalese rider has been making a name for himself in horse racing for several years. Today, in a country where the average monthly salary is about US$190, Fallou can earn up to US$600 per race. With this money, the young man can financially help his father, a farmer, who has two wives and 15 children; he pays for his siblings’ schooling, has financed a new roof for his family’s home and helps his neighbours in Niaga, his home village. He is always surrounded by a crowd of young fans who admire his achievements, but while many dream of becoming jockeys, few will actually make it. © Thomas Morel-Fort, France, Finalist, Professional competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

“Sealing the Ring”. There are four corners and one of them is yours. This is the story of a young fighter from a Muay Thai camp in Thailand, who is fighting for the gym and his family. Taken during my stay at the camp in November 2022, I wanted to capture the emotions and explore how we can learn from traditions. © Josef Hlavka, Czech Republic, Shortlist, Professional competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

“Kicking”. The second move to master is kicking. This is the story of a young fighter from a Muay Thai camp in Thailand, who is fighting for the gym and his family. Taken during my stay at the camp in November 2022, I wanted to capture the emotions and explore how we can learn from traditions. © Josef Hlavka, Czech Republic, Shortlist, Professional competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

Team Netherlands during the Volleyball Women’s World Championship. Netherlands versus Argentina at the Ahoy Arena, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 4 October 2022. In 2022, the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship was held in the Netherlands and Poland with unprecedented success. Twenty-four teams took part, playing across six venues in the Netherlands and Poland, starting in the GelreDome Arena, a football stadium converted into a volleyball temple. Serbia ultimately took the gold medal, with silver going to Brazil and Italy winning bronze. © Ronald Hoogendoorn, Netherlands, Shortlist, Professional competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

Paola Ogechi Egonu of Italy during the Volleyball Women’s World Championship.
Italy versus Brazil at the Ahoy Arena, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 4 October 2022. In 2022, the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship was held in the Netherlands and Poland with unprecedented success. Twenty-four teams took part, playing across six venues in the Netherlands and Poland, starting in the GelreDome Arena, a football stadium converted into a volleyball temple. Serbia ultimately took the gold medal, with silver going to Brazil and Italy winning bronze. © Ronald Hoogendoorn, Netherlands, Shortlist, Professional competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

Two pirogue teams race each other along the Senegal River in Saint-Louis on 23 July 2022. Each neighbourhood puts forward multiple teams to compete in the event. Said to date back 200 years, traditional Senegalese pirogue racing is an extremely popular sport. Crowds descend to the banks of the Senegal River in Saint-Louis to cheer on teams from along the Senegal coast. Starting in the early hours of the morning, supporters gather to watch the unveiling of each pirogue, which is freshly painted and blessed by each team’s religious leader, their marabout. The boats are then pushed into the river with cheers from the crowds. © John Wessels, South Africa, Shortlist, Professional competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

Supporters cheer as their team’s pirogue is unveiled in the fishing village of Guet N’Dar in Saint-Louis on 23 July 2022. Said to date back 200 years, traditional Senegalese pirogue racing is an extremely popular sport. Crowds descend to the banks of the Senegal River in Saint-Louis to cheer on teams from along the Senegal coast. Starting in the early hours of the morning, supporters gather to watch the unveiling of each pirogue, which is freshly painted and blessed by each team’s religious leader, their marabout. The boats are then pushed into the river with cheers from the crowds. © John Wessels, South Africa, Shortlist, Professional competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

“Kurt Sorge’s First Descent”. In many ways, Kurt Sorge was the captain of this exploratory mission. The decorated freerider identified most of the rideable zones from the helicopter and highlighted the most technical aspects of the lines before the riders dropped into them. Sorge served as a mentor and was always pushing the limits of this trip. He was the only one to hit this massive chute. Looking across the sprawling valley at five riders scouting a steep chute below them, it almost didn’t seem real. They looked like they were standing on a wall, somehow defying gravity. From where I was standing – on an opposing ridgeline – the chute looked downright impossible to ride. But in this vast Alaskan landscape, individual perceptions can be deceiving. It was our third day exploring a stretch of the Talkeetna Mountains, about 100 miles east of Anchorage. Our crew of mountain bikers – Kurt Sorge, Alex Volokhov, Nico Vink, Jaxson Riddle and Remy Morton – surveyed the steep mountainside in search of possible lines down yet another unridden face. The vast expanses of potentially rideable terrain here were remarkable. And therein lay the challenge: where to start? © Anthony Smith, Canada, Shortlist, Professional competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

“Group Descent”. More than anything else, the supportive team dynamic is what made this adventure successful. Riders worked together to scout entrances and exits, always radioing reports to those yet to drop. The trust they had in one another gave the riders the confidence to approach each slope with their own unique vision. At the end of another gruelling day the group of exhausted yet ecstatic riders descend the final slope to the helicopter. Looking across the sprawling valley at five riders scouting a steep chute below them, it almost didn’t seem real. They looked like they were standing on a wall, somehow defying gravity. From where I was standing – on an opposing ridgeline – the chute looked downright impossible to ride. But in this vast Alaskan landscape, individual perceptions can be deceiving. It was our third day exploring a stretch of the Talkeetna Mountains, about 100 miles east of Anchorage. Our crew of mountain bikers – Kurt Sorge, Alex Volokhov, Nico Vink, Jaxson Riddle and Remy Morton – surveyed the steep mountainside in search of possible lines down yet another unridden face. The vast expanses of potentially rideable terrain here were remarkable. And therein lay the challenge: where to start? © Anthony Smith, Canada, Shortlist, Professional competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

The procession for Pelé reaches the house of his mother, Dona Celeste, and his sister, in the city of Santos. The last goodbye to ‘O Rey’ Edson Arantes do Nascimento Pelé, the most famous Brazilian footballer ever. Considered the best footballer in the world by many people, Pelé, who died at the age of 82, scored over 1,000 goals in his career. © Nicola Zolin, Italy, Shortlist, Professional competition, Sport, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

The last goodbye to ‘O Rey’ Edson Arantes do Nascimento Pelé, the most famous Brazilian footballer ever. Considered the best footballer in the world by many people, Pelé, who died at the age of 82, scored over 1,000 goals in his career. © Nicola Zolin, Italy, Shortlist, Professional competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

Kelsie pitches in the bullpen before a game against the Charleston Dirty Birds at Richmond County Bank Ballpark, Staten Island, New York, on 8 July 2022. Kelsie Whitmore is the first female professional baseball player to play in an all-male pro league. She plays outfield and pitches for the Staten Island Ferryhawks in the Atlantic League of professional baseball. Her debut in the Atlantic League was as a pinch runner on 22 April 2022, and on 1 May she became the first woman to start an Atlantic League game, when she played as a left fielder. Just three days later she was the first woman to pitch in an Atlantic League game and on 3 September 2022 Kelsie became the first woman to record a hit in association with Major League Baseball. © Al Bello, United States, Finalist, Professional competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

Kelsie stands with her teammates before their game against the Long Island Ducks at Fairfield Properties Ballpark, Central Islip, New York, on 7 July 2022. Kelsie Whitmore is the first female professional baseball player to play in an all-male pro league. She plays outfield and pitches for the Staten Island Ferryhawks in the Atlantic League of professional baseball. Her debut in the Atlantic League was as a pinch runner on 22 April 2022, and on 1 May she became the first woman to start an Atlantic League game, when she played as a left fielder. Just three days later she was the first woman to pitch in an Atlantic League game and on 3 September 2022 Kelsie became the first woman to record a hit in association with Major League Baseball. © Al Bello, United States, Finalist, Professional competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

Saliou Ndao (18) comes from Senegal and plays as a forward for ASD Rinascita (Rebirth) Refugees. A Guinean agent offered him a trial with Sporting Portugal soccer club, which wanted to sign him. However, when the agent asked for too much money, the club withdrew its offer for Saliou, and he found himself abandoned in Portugal by the agent, without a passport. Carmiano, Italy, 3 May 2022. Every year, thousands of children leave West Africa with dreams of becoming professional footballers in Europe, but few of them make it. Many of them are approached by fake football agents who promise trials at international football clubs, but when they get to Europe they are often exploited in labour camps between Spain and Portugal, and sometimes abandoned on the street without their documents. In Carmiano in southern Italy, a town of 15,000 inhabitants, there is a young football team – the ‘Rinascita Refugees’ – which is made up of asylum seekers. The team belongs to a project aimed at protecting unaccompanied foreign minors, and for a number of years it has been at the top of the championship tables in the Puglia region. Guineans, Senegalese, Gambians, Nigerians and Malians are among the nationalities of young footballers whose kit bears the motto: ‘Let’s kick racism’. © Giuseppe Carotenuto, Italy, Shortlist, Professional competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

An ASD Rinascita (Rebirth) Refugees player kisses the playing field before the start of the play-off final match.
Leverano, Lecce, Italy, 22 May 2022 Every year, thousands of children leave West Africa with dreams of becoming professional footballers in Europe, but few of them make it. Many of them are approached by fake football agents who promise trials at international football clubs, but when they get to Europe they are often exploited in labour camps between Spain and Portugal, and sometimes abandoned on the street without their documents. In Carmiano in southern Italy, a town of 15,000 inhabitants, there is a young football team – the ‘Rinascita Refugees’ – which is made up of asylum seekers. The team belongs to a project aimed at protecting unaccompanied foreign minors, and for a number of years it has been at the top of the championship tables in the Puglia region. Guineans, Senegalese, Gambians, Nigerians and Malians are among the nationalities of young footballers whose kit bears the motto: ‘Let’s kick racism’. © Giuseppe Carotenuto, Italy, Shortlist, Professional competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

Warming up. Mundialito is the nickname of one of the most important indigenous football cups in South America. The event started in 1992 and currently gathers 80 men’s and 32 women’s teams from Peruvian, Bolivian and Colombian Amazonian communities in a 12-day championship. However, its importance goes far beyond the football championship. The Mundialito is a place where bonds between the indigenous communities are consolidated. Dances and celebrations are essential parts of this competition, which fulfils an important social and political function of resistance and empowerment against the disintegrating forces acting on the native Amazonian communities. © Andrea Fantini, Italy, Finalist, Professional competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

Women’s competition. Mundialito is the nickname of one of the most important indigenous football cups in South America. The event started in 1992 and currently gathers 80 men’s and 32 women’s teams from Peruvian, Bolivian and Colombian Amazonian communities in a 12-day championship. However, its importance goes far beyond the football championship. The Mundialito is a place where bonds between the indigenous communities are consolidated. Dances and celebrations are essential parts of this competition, which fulfils an important social and political function of resistance and empowerment against the disintegrating forces acting on the native Amazonian communities. © Andrea Fantini, Italy, Finalist, Professional competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2023 DM/ML