Following are world's top 10 sports events in 2004 selected by the Xinhua News Agency on Thursday:

1. South Africa won the bid to host the 2010 soccer World Cup on May 15, the first African country to host the event.

2. Greece overcame 100-1 odds to win the title of the European Championship in Portugal in July.

3. Lance Armstrong of the United States won a record sixth Tourde France title in July, surpassing a host of Tour legends such as Belgian Eddy Merckx and Miguel Indurain of Spain, who was the onlyrider before Armstrong to claim five straight Tour de France victories.

4. The Athens Olympic and Paralympic Games were successfully held amid security worries since they were the first Games held after the 9-11.

5. China finished second in the medal standings in the Athens Olympic Games by winning 32 gold medals, their best feat in the Olympic history. Their Paralympic delegation also made history by topping the medal table by winning 63 gold medals.

6. South Korea's former International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice president Kim Un-Yong, 73, was sentenced by a lower court in June sentenced Kim to two and a half years in jail for diverting 3.3 billion won (2.9 million US dollars) from South Korean sports bodies and accepting bribes from business contacts. Kim was also ordered to repay 788 million won embezzled during his reign as the country's sports czar. He became the highest IOC member to be jailed for corruption.

7. The sports world is facing an uphill task to make it doping-free. Some 20 athletes tested positive for banned drugs during the Athens Olympic Games. The home country's leading medal hopes Costas Kenteris, the Sydney 200 meters champion and Katerina Thanou, the 100 silver medallist in Sydney, withdrew after missinga scheduled drugs test on the eve of the opening ceremony. RussianIrina Korzhanenko tested positive after winning the first athletics gold of the Games, the women's shot put in Ancient Olympia. Hungarian men's hammer champion Adrian Annus and his teammate Robert Fazekas, the discus champion, were also stripped of their gold medals for doping violations.

8. German driver Michael Schumacher won a record seventh world title in the Formula One world championships in 2004. He won 13 races out of 18 in the year to extend his Grand Prix victories to 83.

9. Indiana Pacers bad boy Ron Artest and four of his team mateswere involved in one of the ugliest incidents in NBA history. Jermaine O'Neal, David Harrison, Anthony Johnston, Stephen Jacksonand Artest, who was suspended for the remainder of the season, face criminal charges for storming into the stands to confront fans during a game against the NBA champion Detroit Pistons in November, triggering a near riot.

10. World tennis number one Roger Federer became the first man since Mats Wilander of the United States in 1988 to win three of the four grand slam events -- the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open - in a calendar year. The 23-year-old Swiss also won the season-ending Masters Cup and has been described the best tennis player the world has ever seen.

Source: Xinhua