Usain Bolt delivered. Mo Farah, Elaine Thompson, David Rudisha, three world records and a dominant United States played their part too, as athletics enjoyed being back in the limelight.
Earnest words from Leonardo DiCaprio, and the big winners of Oscar night.
Germany's Nico Rosberg took a controversial pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday after an incident that denied unhappy Mercedes team mate and championship leader Lewis Hamilton the chance to beat him.
A quick look at the winners.
Rediff.com captures these moments and a lot more from the week gone by...
Nico Rosberg will have Formula One history in his sights in Spain this weekend, even if Dutch teenager Max Verstappen seizes his share of the limelight. The championship leader has won seven races in a row, including the last three of 2015, and can join fellow-German Michael Schumacher (2004) and Britain's Nigel Mansell (1992) as the only drivers to start a season with five successive victories. The chances of that happening looked remote this time last year, when Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton had won three of the first four and was heading for a third title, but Rosberg is now 43 points clear of the Briton. As 18-year-old Verstappen would agree, after his rapid promotion from Toro Rosso in a swap with demoted Russian Daniil Kvyat, Formula One moves fast off the track as well as on it. "I'm just enjoying the moment and the form I'm in, doing my best to keep it going and hoping I can carry it through to the end of the season," said Rosberg, 11/10 at bookmakers' William Hill with Hamilton at 5/4.
Liverpool's dream run was demolished in the most unlikely fashion by strugglers Watford on Saturday in what must be considered the most extraordinary reverse of the entire Premier League season. On the evening when the European champions were expected to complete the best sequence in the history of English football's top-flight with a 19th straight league victory, they were instead hammered 3-0 by the team lying one from bottom. Images from the EPL matches played on Saturday.
The fresh iPhones, unveiled on Wednesday, incorporate a version of the Force Touch technology already in some Apple laptop touchpads and its watches.
The 65th Emmys will be held on September 22 in Los Angeles.
Barring Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara, all players have declared their allegiances to IPL franchises over their respective countries' domestic sides ahead of the upcoming Champions League Twenty20.
Factbox on the third World Cup quarter-final between Australia and Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval on Friday.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni heaved a sigh of relief after his team turned its fortunes around with a 133-run win in the second ODI against England in Cardiff and the Indian captain said it's a "good format to come back into form" following the Test series debacle.
IMAGES from the matches played on Day 4 of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on Thursday
Kimi Raikkonen will race for Ferrari next season after agreeing a two-year deal that takes the 2007 Formula One World champion back to the glamour team he left in 2009.
Brief profile of five male athletes to watch out for at the August 22-30 world championships in Beijing.
Finnish team mate Kimi Raikkonen, who started on pole for the first time in nine years but lost the lead in the pitstops, made sure of a Ferrari one-two with Hamilton finishing seventh for Mercedes after starting 13th.
Kimi Raikkonen has plenty of supporters among the passionate Ferrari 'tifosi' as the team's first champion of the post-Schumacher era, and last to date, and his return would a break with Ferrari tradition as much as a blast from the past.
India thrashed New Zealand by 53 runs to give veteran fast bowler Ashish Nehra a winning farewell, in the first Twenty20 International in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Usain Bolt, already enshrined as one of the greatest Olympians of all time, became the most successful athlete in world championship history. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce also completed the hat-trick.
Four times Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel decided to leave Red Bull because he needed new motivation after a frustrating season, team consultant Helmut Marko said.
Dutch teenager Max Verstappen became Formula One's youngest race winner on Sunday in a sensational Spanish Grand Prix that saw dominant Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg collide on the opening lap.
Monaco's firepower was far too hot to handle for Olympique de Marseille as the Principality side moved top of the French Ligue 1 standings with a 4-0 home win on Saturday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday.
New Zealand started their World Twenty20 campaign on a positive note, beating England by nine runs via Duckworth-Lewis method in a Group 1 league match that was called off following heavy rain and thunder storm, at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, on Saturday.
Normally the candidates for goal of the season are spread throughout the 10 months of the campaign, but this weekend's Premier League matches produced six memorable strikes in little over 24 hours.
Formula One is to award double points for the last race of the season in a controversial attempt to keep championships undecided to the very end after four years of Red Bull domination.
The year is coming to an end and overall, it's been one hell of a year! We have had our share of ups and downs and we look forward to a better 2020. While we count down the days to the new year, let's also reflect on those who gave us strength to stand up in what we believe, the courageous who didn't bow down and the ones with gumption who inspired us to be better. We, Rediff.com, have selected 26 personalities, who we think are worthy of the title -- HERO OF THE YEAR -- and we want you, dear readers, to choose your hero!
ICC CEO David Richardson lauded Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for correcting his bowling action after being called twice in his career and making it absolutely legal, insisting that there's no conspiracy in the timing on the crackdown of illegal actions.
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni heaped praises on Suresh Raina for his match-winning hundred in the second One-dayer against England here today that helped the visitors take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
Critically injured French Formula One driver Jules Bianchi will not give up his fight for life but the situation remains desperate, his father Philippe said on Tuesday.
Jamie Vardy sent a screaming reminder that leaders Leicester City are in the Premier league title race for the long haul with a sensational strike in a 2-0 win over Liverpool on Tuesday.
But Smith believes the world champions have a quality squad to bounce back in the series.
Niki Lauda expects departing Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn to return to Formula One in some capacity once he has gone fishing and taken time out.
Ross Brawn will stand down as principal and leave the Mercedes Formula One team at the end of the year, Mercedes said in a statement on Thursday.
Red Bull's quadruple World champion Sebastian Vettel won the US Grand Prix on Sunday to become the first Formula One driver to take eight consecutive victories in a single season. Starting from pole, the 26-year-old German was again in a class of his own, taking the chequered flag 6.2 seconds clear of Frenchman Romain Grosjean in a Lotus.
Shah Rukh Khan had David Letterman in his grip, giving him no quarter whatsoever, declares Sreehari Nair.
Indian tennis legend Leander Paes says he wishes to exit from the game just like global icons Pele and Mohammad Ali who bid adieu to their respective sports when they were at the pinnacle of their careers.
A round-up of results from the final day of the World Athletics Championships in Doha on Sunday
Here's your weekly digest of the craziest stories from around the world.
List of men's singles champions at Wimbledon:
