MANCHESTER is bang on top of the sporting world - and that's official.

United were crowned FIFA club world champions at the end of 2008 and now a variety of global sporting bodies have given Manchester the ultimate accolade.

Experts from the International Olympic Committee, FIFA, International Cricket Council and the All England Lawn Tennis Club have all voted to place the city above Melbourne, Berlin, New York, Moscow and Doha.

The No 1 spot was in recognition of the success of Manchester World Sport08 - six international sports events from the World Track Cycling Championships to the World Squash Championships. So 2009 is going to be a hard act to follow.

But City council leaders and sports governing bodies are up for the challenge.

Some of the events may not be as high-profile as those of the past 12 months, as this is not an Olympic year.

However, there will be a full calendar of competitions, including an innovative and ground-breaking tournament for one of the most popular women's sports.

It is all building on the momentum of a fantstic 12 months when much of the hard work resulting in that Beijing gold rush was done here in Manchester.

Chris Hoy's road to China began at Sportcity with double gold at the World Championships. There were two titles also for Wilmslow-based Victoria Pendleton.

In total, Britain's two-wheel wonders won a record nine gold medals, laying the foundation for Olympic glory in Beijing.

Staged

Britain's swimmers couldn't match such a total at the first-ever world short course swimming championships, staged spectacularly at the M.E.N. Arena.

But the event won its own gold, SportBusiness Award's for `Best Look.'

In five days of competition, 18 world records were broken as Britain topped the medal table with 24, while Olympic star Rebecca Adlington first came to prominence by winning the 800 metres.

May was a hectic month as Manchester hosted the UEFA Cup final between Rangers and Zenit St Petersburg, the Paralympic World Cup and the Bupa Great Manchester Run.

The Great Manchester Run has now been awarded its own `gold standard' by the International Athletics Association Federation and the 2009 event on May 17 could see up to 35,000 runners taking part.

The final event of MWS08 was the World Squash Championships when Worsley's Vicky Botwright reached the final in her last major tournament before taking up her post as the city council's head squash coach.

Councillor Mike Amesbury, executive member for Culture and Leisure, said: "Manchester World Sport08 has been a fantastic achievement for Manchester, showcasing its world-class sporting facilities, partnerships, major event programme and infrastructure.

"It is with pride that we remember all the outstanding achievements of the athletes who live and train in the city and also the highlights of a tremendous year of international sport, which culminated in Manchester winning the SportBusiness Sports City Gold Award 2008.

"Manchester has set the benchmark for the rest of the country in hosting such high-profile events and there are a great many high-calibre international sporting events that we can look forward to in 2009 and beyond."

Negotiations are already well advanced for a major international netball event in the second part of 2009.

And with Manchester the capital of British cycling, it's hoped the Velodrome will host another World Cup event later in the year.

The city is now also home to two other growing Olympic sports - taekwondo and water polo.

The British Taekwondo Academy, based in Ardwick, will send out its stars including Olympians Sarah Stevenson, Michael Harvey and Aaron Cook, for two important events in 2009.

Indeed, it promises to be a year for girl power with the European women's Water Polo championships taking place in addition to netball.

The year kicks off with Pendleton's appearance at the penultimate meeting of the current Revolution series on January 10.

And the country's best players head to Sportcity at the end of the month for the National Badminton Championships.

MEN Media will be the official media partner for many of this year's events.

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