2018 Rome ePrix, Background, Preview
Coming into the race from Punta del Este four weeks earlier, Techeetah driver Jean-Éric Vergne led the Drivers' Championship with 109 points and was 30 points ahead of Felix Rosenqvist of Mahindra in second. Virgin's Sam Bird was a further three points behind in third and Sébastien Buemi of e.Dams-Renault was fourth with a total of 52 points accrued. Jaguar driver Nelson Piquet Jr. was fifth with 45 points. Techeetah led the Teams' Championship with 127 points; Mahindra followed 27 points behind in second position. Virgin (93 points) and Jaguar (86) were third and fourth and e.Dams-Renault were fifth with 59 points.


2018 Rome ePrix, Background, Preview
After the world governing body of motorsport, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), abolished the minimum pit stop time at the Santiago ePrix three races ago, Techeetah and Dragon were fined for modifying their seat felts and André Lotterer (Techeetah) clipped one of his mechanics in Mexico. These events prompted the FIA to hand all teams two cameras to aid the stewards in analysing footage after the race and were instructed to install them above the second car of their respective drivers and be positioned in an unobstructed area of the garage effective from the Rome ePrix.


2018 Rome ePrix, Background, Preview
Jean Todt, the FIA president, reiterated his position that the responsibility of ensuring safe pit stops laid solely with teams and drivers and revealed that the decision to discard the minimum pit stop time was made following two years of research, "If you want to try and save time and to be unbuckled before you stop, [or] to buckle after you have started – you will be reported to the stewards to make some strong decisions. But if you follow the rules and the procedure, I feel that there is no problem of safety. I hope that every driver and every team will be responsible and we shouldn't have any problems."


2018 Rome ePrix, Background, Preparations
Plans for a Formula E race around the streets of the Italian capital of Rome were discussed on 1 December 2012 by Todt, and series founder and CEO Alejandro Agag with Gianni Alemanno, the mayor. They agreed to hold a race in the city in the 2014–15 season. On 1 October 2013 however, these plans changed when the initial season calendar was released, dropping the Rome race with Hong Kong. A new administration had been elected in the intervening period of time and it decided against taking further action in restoring the ePrix to the calendar.


2018 Rome ePrix, Background, Preparations
But, the project was revitalised when in November 2016, Rome's councillor for sports Daniele Frongia told news agency Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata that the recently elected administration of Virginia Raggi was in the process of planning for major events slated for 2017 and 2018. Raggi maintained written correspondence with the FIA concerning the restoration of Rome to the Formula E calendar.


2018 Rome ePrix, Background, Preparations
After a meeting of councillors at Rome City Hall, Agag met Raggi and a congregation of city officials in February 2017 to discuss a series of requests and evaluated a potential circuit. The group held another meeting a few weeks later for further negotiation. Two months later on 20 April, the proposal for a motor race on the streets of Rome was put forward to authorities from the local assembly who voted unanimously in favour to approve permits to allow racing in the city's EUR residential and business district for the next five years.


2018 Rome ePrix, Background, Preparations
The ePrix was added to the FIA's provisional 2017–18 calendar on 19 June, and was officially confirmed as part of the series by the FIA World Motor Sport Council three months later. It was the seventh of twelve scheduled single seater electric car rounds of the 2017–18 season and took place at the Circuito Cittadino dell'EUR street circuit on 18 April 2018. Prior to the ePrix, Rome last hosted a street circuit race at the Baths of Caracalla in 1951. Organisers expected 30,000 people to attend the ePrix.


2018 Rome ePrix, Background, Preparations
The layout of the 21-turn 2.86 km (1.78 mi) street circuit was unveiled to the public on 19 October 2017. It was the second longest track on the Formula E calendar after the Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan in Marrakesh. The start line was positioned on the Via Cristoforo Colombo and the finish line was positioned near the Marconi Obelisk. The circuit negotiated past major city buildings such as the Rome Convection Center and the Palazzo dei Congressi. Construction of the track began on 3 April, eleven days before the ePrix, and was completed on 12 April.


2018 Rome ePrix, Background, Preparations
It was dismantled two days after the race. The circuit received a mixed response. Lucas di Grassi (Audi) disliked the chicane while Nick Heidfeld (Mahindra) believed the turn would be more challenging than it appeared. Nico Prost of e.Dams-Renault felt that turns four and five would provide a great amount of challenge and it reminded him of the Montreal Street Circuit. However, several drivers raised concerns over the position of the starting grid. Di Grassi argued it should have been placed after turn two while Heidfeld doubted that moving the start line would make any significant difference.


2018 Rome ePrix, Practice
Two practice sessions—both on Saturday morning—were held before the late afternoon race. The first session ran for 45 minutes and the second lasted half an hour. A half an hour untimed shakedown session was held on Friday afternoon to enable teams to check the reliability of their cars and electronic systems. Piquet incurred a suspended three place grid penalty for exceeding the maximum amount of permitted laps (six) during shakedown and a repeat transgression before the session ended would require him to serve it.


2018 Rome ePrix, Practice
In the first practice session, held in relatively cold weather, Piquet set the fastest time of 1 minute, 36.134 seconds lap, followed by Bird, Mitch Evans (Jaguar), Vergne, Buemi, Lotterer, Rosenqvist, Jérôme d'Ambrosio (Dragon), di Grassi and Alex Lynn (Virgin). During the session, several drivers were caught out by the track and some including Lotterer ventured onto its run-off areas as they learnt the limits of the track and finding a rhythm they liked. José María López (Dragon) glanced the turn five barrier and damaged his car's rear-right corner.


2018 Rome ePrix, Practice
Lynn ended the session five minutes prematurely with a slide at a 45-degree angle into the turn one barrier, deranging his front-left suspension. Rosenqvist led for most of the second session and recorded a 200 kW (270 hp) lap late on of 1 minute, 35.467 seconds. He was three-tenths of a second faster than the second-placed Bird. Di Grassi, López, Prost, Buemi, d'Ambrosio, Piquet, Tom Blomqvist (Andretti) and Evans were in third to tenth.


2018 Rome ePrix, Practice
With five minutes left, Lynn crashed for the second time when he lost control of the rear of his car approaching the turn sixteen/seventeen chicane because of an overspeed that sent him into an outside barrier sideways with the left hand side of his vehicle. Lynn was unhurt but the crash significantly damaged his car and ended the session early due to the limited amount of available time.


2018 Rome ePrix, Qualifying
Saturday's afternoon one hour qualifying session was divided into four groups of five cars. Each group was determined by a lottery system and was permitted six minutes of on-track activity. All drivers were limited to two timed laps with one at maximum power. The fastest five overall competitors in all four groups participated in a "Super Pole" session with one driver on the track at any time going out in reverse order from fifth to first.


2018 Rome ePrix, Qualifying
Each of the five drivers was limited to one timed lap and the starting order was determined by the competitor's fastest times (Super Pole from first to fifth, and group qualifying from sixth to twentieth). The driver and team who recorded the fastest time were awarded three points towards their respective championships.


2018 Rome ePrix, Qualifying
In the first group of five drivers, Blomqvist was the early pace setter and was followed by Maro Engel (Venturi) and Prost. Both Luca Filippi (NIO) and d'Ambrosio set one timed warm-up lap as the duo crossed the timing team after the first group ended due to a mistimed run that prevented them from recording a lap at maximum power. Rosenqvist immediately went the fastest of anyone in the track's first sector and topped group two. Buemi followed in second with Bird third and Vergne fourth. Piquet struggled with the tight track and was the second group's slowest driver.


2018 Rome ePrix, Qualifying
In the third group, Evans was the fastest competitor and put himself amongst the top five overall runners as he eliminated Vergne from super pole. Di Grassi was second-quickest with Oliver Turvey (NIO) third and Daniel Abt (Audi) fourth. The third group's slowest driver Edoardo Mortara (Venturi) made contact with a wall leaving the Obelisk chicane and broke his rear-left suspension and steering arm, causing him to fight for control of his car for the rest of his lap.


2018 Rome ePrix, Qualifying
Before the final group commenced, a miscommunication caused López to be released from his garage at the wrong time and hit the sidepod of António Félix da Costa's Andretti car at low speed. López was consequently pushed into a wall because he could not steer away from Félix da Costa. Both cars sustained suspension damage and neither López nor Félix da Costa set a lap time as Formula E regulations obliged teams to nominate one of the driver's two cars for use in qualifying.


2018 Rome ePrix, Qualifying
Lotterer surprised all by setting the fastest overall group stage lap of 1 minute, 36.593 seconds by gaining four-tenths of a second in the circuit's final sector after two previous average sector times on its last lap. Heidfeld drove tidily on his lap to place second and Lynn was third. At the end of group qualifying, the lap times set by Lotterer, Rosenqvist, Buemi, Bird and Evans qualified them into super pole.


2018 Rome ePrix, Qualifying
Although Rosenqvist glanced a barrier with his right-rear wheel leaving the Obelisk chicane, he took his third pole position of the season and the sixth of his career with a time of 1 minute, 36.311 seconds. He was joined on the grid's front row by Bird who had the pole until Rosenqvist's lap. Evans, third, locked his tyres at turn nine, battled for control of his car over the bumps while braking for the turn 13 hairpin.


2018 Rome ePrix, Qualifying
Lotterer could not replicate his group qualifying performance due to a lack of tyre cooling and was fourth after losing four-tenths of a second in the first sector. Buemi appeared to win pole by going fastest early on but an error with the retardation of his regenerative system entering turn 13 put him deep after missing his braking point on the bumpy track and started fifth.


2018 Rome ePrix, Qualifying, Post-qualifying
Andretti were issued a €10,000 fine as the stewards deemed them to have released Félix da Costa's car "in an unsafe manner and [da Costa] then collided with car number six that was approaching in the fast lane.” Félix da Costa (penalised ten grid positions for the afternoon's race), López, Filippi and d'Ambrosio (also dropped two places on the grid for passing the chequered flag twice) were granted permission by the stewards to start the race. After the application of penalties, the rest of the order consisted of di Grassi, Turvey, Vergne, Abt, Heidfeld, Lynn, Blomqvist, Piquet, Engel, Prost, Mortara, Filippi, d'Ambrosio, López and Félix da Costa


2018 Rome ePrix, Race
The race began before a crowd of 45,000 people at 16;00 Central European Summer Time (UTC−02:00). The weather at the start was dry but cloudy with the air temperature between 25.05 to 26.25 °C (77.09 to 79.25 °F) and the track temperature ranged from 24 and 26 °C (75 and 79 °F). A special feature of Formula E is the "Fan Boost" feature, an additional 100 kW (130 hp) of power to use in the driver's second car. The three drivers who were allowed to use the boost were determined by a fan vote.


2018 Rome ePrix, Race
On the grid, Rosenqvist spun his tyres and turned left to stop Bird from passing him. That allowed Evans to try and pass the pair on the inside, only to slide wide and return to third. Meanwhile, Turvey made a brisk start from seventh to pass di Grassi and Buemi on the outside for fifth. As the field approached the second turn, Lynn mounted the rear of Vergne's car, damaging both cars' bodywork with Lynn shown a black flag with an orange disc to dictate he enter the pit lane for repairs. Engel and Félix da Costa gained three places by the end of the first lap, while Blomqvist lost the same amount of positions over the same distance.


2018 Rome ePrix, Race
The gaps in the top ten stabilised as Rosenqvist began to build a small advantage over Bird. Further back, Félix da Costa continued to move up the order by getting ahead of Filippi and Mortara followed through. Yet, Mortara abandoned his attempt at steering back onto the racing line as López occupiee the space and the former was briefly sideways. López could not find any room to overtake him but untangled with Mortara before entering the hairpin. Buemi, di Grassi and Filippi were announced as the winners of the FanBoost vote on the fourth lap.


2018 Rome ePrix, Race
Soon after, López almost completed a double overtake on Filippi and Prost which saw his axle interconnect as he moved past Filippi but reached the apex of the corner, allowing Prost to keep fourteenth for the time being. At the front, Rosenqvist had extended his lead over Bird to three seconds, which remained about the same until the former responded to set consecutive fastest laps and close the gap before the mandatory pit stops to change into a second car. Buemi pressured Turvey and got past him for fifth on lap 15. He then began drawing closer to the fourth-placed Lotterer and was right behind him within one lap. An overtaking attempt by Buemi on Lotterer resulted in minor contact but both sustained no damage.


2018 Rome ePrix, Race
Entering the pit stop window, Evans and Lotterer had seven percent more electrical energy than the top two and fell back so they could remain on track for one extra lap while di Grassi and Vergne also conserved energy. As the pit stops drew nearer, localised yellow flags were necessitated for a four-car pileup at the turn 13 hairpin on lap 16. Heidfeld was close to Turvey; the two collided into the hairpin and the former hit a barrier. López on the inside pushed Turvey into Heidfeld.


2018 Rome ePrix, Race
Then, Turvey's teammate Filippi attempted to pass Mortara and rammed into the rear of his car with Mortara following suit. All four drivers were able to continue. Meanwhile, Félix da Costa made the first pit stop of the race on the lap. Rosenqvist and Bird came in simultaneously with the former retaining the lead. After the pit stops, Buemi moved past Evans for third and di Grassi was close behind Lotterer in fifth as the full course yellow procedure was activated for Lynn who was stranded in the turn ten run-off area after a crash on lap 18. Then, Piquet became the second retiree after stopping his car with an unrectifiable seat belt problem.


2018 Rome ePrix, Race
Once racing resumed, Bird in second was still close behind Rosenqvist in the lead and Evans passed Buemi for third place. On lap 22 Bird took the lead as Rosenqvist drove over the turn 17 kerbs and broke his car's rear-left suspension assembly and drive shaft. It was initially attributed to an aggressive driving style but it was later traced to a loose bolt. Rosenqvist pulled up at the side of the track to retire. Race control activated the second full course yellow procedure to allow marshals to move Rosenqvist's car to a safe location.


2018 Rome ePrix, Race
Meanwhile, di Grassi passed Lotterer, and soon after, used his FanBoost to overtake Buemi on the inside cresting a hill for third on lap 24. He began to gain on Evans, who in turn, was drawing nearer to Bird by having more electrical energy. As the battle for the lead commenced, Buemi defended from Lotterer, allowing Abt and Vergne to duel them. Although Lotterer was conscious over conserving electrical energy, he overtook Buemi at turn five on lap 26.


2018 Rome ePrix, Race
Abt lacked access to energy readouts due to a radio failure in his second car, but made a similar overtaking attempt on the outside of Buemi entering the hairpin on the lap. Vergne temporarily took sixth and fifth away from Abt and Buemi two laps later before going deep at the hairpin. Evans used his electrical energy advantage to challenge Bird into turn nine for the lead on lap 29 but Bird defended by steering right.


2018 Rome ePrix, Race
Abt earned one point for setting the race's fastest lap of 1 minute and 37.910 seconds on lap 30, and passed Buemi at turn nine soon after. Vergne then overtook Buemi on the inside heading towards turn three. Evans used his extra electrical energy to close up to Bird and had neither slowed nor regenerated for energy conservation purposes, leaving him vulnerable to di Grassi and Lotterer. This enabled Bird to open up a small lead and di Grassi got by Evans for second place at turn nine with three laps left. Lotterer then tried to pass Evans driving towards turn nine. Evans held third as Lotterer was alongside him going into the Obelisk chicane but Evans kept the place by out-braking him.


2018 Rome ePrix, Race
With two laps left, López tagged the rear of Mortara's car, damaging the latter's rear wing and causing the former to retire with suspension damage. The full course yellow was not activated on the final lap because López stopped his car in a place where he would not obstruct anyone. This proved detrimental to Evans as he had five percent of electrical energy left while Lotterer had two percent more. Lotterer turned left to pass Evans at turn ten for third. Evans then slowed due to electrical energy depletion.


2018 Rome ePrix, Race
Di Grassi's conservative strategy drew him nearer to Bird but was not close enough to affect an overtake and Bird earned his second victory of the season and the seventh of his career by 0.970 seconds. Lotterer was third and Abt fourth. Fifth-placed Vergne sprained his thumb at his pit stop which left him unable to attack the left-hand turns for fear of oversteering into a barrier. Buemi, d'Ambrosio, Engel, Evans, Mortara, Félix da Costa, Turvey, Filippi, Prost, Blomqvist, Heidfeld and López were the final classified finishers.


2018 Rome ePrix, Race, Post-race
The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and spoke to the media in a later press conference. Bird admitted that he may have not won the race had Rosenqvist retired with suspension damage and stated a driving error on his part allowed Evans and di Grassi to close up on him, "I knew they'd be hunting on the last lap but I tried to give myself the best scenario and held on."


2018 Rome ePrix, Race, Post-race
He stated he would take a race-by-race approach until New York City when he would read into the points standings, "I’ve just got to do the best job I can and then we’ll see when we get to New York where we were strong last year." Di Grassi called the race "extraordinary", and although he did not expect to draw close to Buemi at the start, he was delighted to finish second. He hoped to contend for the win in every race until the season ended.


2018 Rome ePrix, Race, Post-race
Third-place finisher Lotterer admitted that he was still learning Formula E and on how luck changes hands in the series, "I saved a bit too much energy and the performance was good, but I learned a lot again today and I'm happy to be on the podium… I'm getting it bit by bit."


2018 Rome ePrix, Race, Post-race
Rosenqvist's retirement from the lead was his second in three races after a battery failure lost him the Mexico City ePrix. He described the race as a "perfect day in every sense" and vowed to return to contention, "We're all quite tired and I think the guys deserved a win today – that's going to be hard for everyone but we're going to come back."


2018 Rome ePrix, Race, Post-race
Evans said the second full course yellow stopped him from securing his second podium finish of the season and was aware his sole opportunity to pass Bird was missed, "It spiralled out of control very, very quick. I’ll take it on the chin. The guys did a great job, and I feel bad for the team. We could have easily got a podium. Maybe we were just a little bit impatient, but it's my first time racing for the win in this championship."


2018 Rome ePrix, Race, Post-race
Concerning the lap 16 four-car pileup at the hairpin, Turvey called it "unfortunate" and said he could not avoid it from occurring. Heidfeld argued since Turvey depleted electrical energy, possibly due to excess frontal brake bias, he was rendered unable to steer. Heidfeld said he would discuss the crash with Turvey.


2018 Rome ePrix, Race, Post-race
Towards the end of the race, di Grassi was investigated by the stewards for the placement of his mechanics' hands at his mid-race car change pit stop. Di Grassi was later summoned to the stewards where footage of his pit stop was re-examined for clarification and Audi were cleared of any wrongdoing when they demonstrated their procedure was legal. Di Grassi subsequently called for technology to have a greater involvement to allow for consistent instructions and decisions could be enforced and lower the stewards' workload.


2018 Rome ePrix, Race, Post-race
e.Dams-Renault team principal Jean-Paul Driot explained Buemi had Bird's strategy but his battle with Turvey obliged him to attack too much. Driot believed an alternative strategy of one extra lap could have been adopted had Buemi began on the grid's front row. The unbuckling of Piquet's seat belt in his second car was one of several incidents involving the safety device and a similar issue affected Abt in Punta del Este. He revealed that his team decided to retire him because the problem took too long to rectify and they wanted to conserve equipment, "It's pretty clear, these cars are not made for quick pit stops and everyone is taking risks as there's no minimum time.”


2018 Rome ePrix, Race, Post-race
The result kept Vergne the lead of the Drivers' Championship but his advantage was reduced to 18 points. Bird's victory moved him to second place and Rosenqvist's retirement demoted him to third. Buemi maintained fourth position while Abt took over fifth position by finishing sixth. In the Teams' Championship, Techeetah extended their advantage over Virgin (who gained second place from Mahindra) at the top to 34 points. Mahindra scored no points and dropped to third while Audi's strong result moved them from sixth to fourth. Jaguar scored two points courtesy of Evans but fell to fifth with five races left in the season.


2018 Rome escalator accident
The 2018 Rome escalator accident was an incident where twenty-four people, mostly fans of the CSKA Moscow Football team, were injured after a crowded escalator at a Rome Metro station malfunctioned and suddenly sped up and hurled people down the escalator.


2018 Rome escalator accident, Incident
The escalator at the Repubblica Metro station in Rome malfunctioned on 23 October. The station was crowded due to many fans traveling to the Rome Olympic stadium to watch a Champions League game between CSKA Moscow and AS Roma. Witnesses claimed a group of CSKA fans going down into the station were jumping and singing before the incident. The escalator suddenly sped up with little time for those at the bottom to get out of the way.


2018 Rome escalator accident, Incident
Some fans attempted to escape by utilizing the median to either slide down, or get to the other escalator. After the escalator was stopped, a photo was released of the escalator stairs crumpled at the bottom with jagged and exposed metal plates.


2018 Rome escalator accident, Victims
Seven people were reported to have been seriously injured, with varying accounts of the total amount of injured. Some of the injured were trapped between the metal plates of the steps at the bottom of the escalator.


2018 Rome escalator accident, Aftermath
Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi issued a request for a formal inquest over the cause of the malfunction. The entire Repubblica station was closed so that investigators and firefighters could carry out all investigations and rescue operations. In the week following the accident protests against Raggi, and raised concerns about her failing to address the city's issues such as the accident and lack of funds for city upkeep and infrastructure.


2018 Rome escalator accident, Aftermath
A representative from ATAC, Rome's public transport company, issued a statement that "all maintenance checks of the escalator were carried out regularly and the results were in accordance to the norms." Police after studying the accident footage concluded that the fans were not jumping on the escalator. The CSKA fans released a statement on 24 October that; "Italian officials, without conducting an investigation, were quick to accuse us of the accident. Apparently, they are trying to shun the responsibility of what happened."


2018 Ronde van Drenthe
The 2018 Ronde van Drenthe was the 56th edition of the Ronde van Drenthe road cycling one day race. It was held on 11 March 2018 as part of the UCI Europe Tour in category 1.HC.


2018 Ronde van Drenthe, Teams
Twenty-two teams of up to seven riders started the race:


2018 Ronde van Drenthe (women's race)
The 12th running of the Ronde van Drenthe, a women's cycling race in the Netherlands, was held on 11 March 2018. Held over a distance of 157.2 kilometres (97.7 miles), starting and finishing in Hoogeveen. It was the second race of the 2018 UCI Women's World Tour. The race was won by Dutch rider Amy Pieters.


2018 Roscommon Senior Football Championship
The 2018 Roscommon Senior Football Championship is the 118th edition of Roscommon GAA's premier Gaelic football tournament for senior graded clubs in County Roscommon, Ireland. The tournament consists of 12 teams, with the winner representing Roscommon in the Connacht Senior Club Football Championship.


2018 Roscommon Senior Football Championship
The championship starts with a seeded group stage and then progresses to a knock out stage.


2018 Roscommon Senior Football Championship
St. Brigid's were the defending champions for the second season running after they defeated Roscommon Gaels in the previous years final.


2018 Roscommon Senior Football Championship
Michael Glavey's (as Connacht I.C.F.C. champions and All-Ireland I.C.F.C. runners-up bounced straight back to the top flight for this season from the Intermediate ranks after relegation in 2016, through claiming the 2017 I.F.C. title.


2018 Roscommon Senior Football Championship, Team Changes
The following teams have changed division since the 2017 championship season.


2018 Roscommon Senior Football Championship, Group stage
The competition split into two groups, based on their performance in the 2017 Group stages. Group 1 consists of teams who reached the Quarter-Finals last year or better. Group 2 consists of two bottom placed finishers in Group 1 last year as well as 3rd and 4th placed in Group 2 last year, the 2017 Relegation Playoff winners and the 2016 Intermediate champions.


2018 Roscommon Senior Football Championship, Group stage
The top 2 teams in Group 1 go into the Semi-Finals, where they await the winners of the Quarter-Finals, which are composed of the 3rd and 4th placed teams in Group 1 along with the top 2 finishers in Group 2. The bottom 2 teams in Group 2 will enter a Relegation Playoff.


2018 Rose Bowl
The 2018 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Georgia Bulldogs, played on January 1, 2018 at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, California. The 104th Rose Bowl Game was a semifinal for the College Football Playoff (CFP), matching two of the top four teams selected by the system's selection committee. Georgia and Oklahoma competed for a spot at the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship game, to be played on January 8, 2018 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.


2018 Rose Bowl
The Georgia Bulldogs won the game with a 27-yard run by Sony Michel, shortly after Lorenzo Carter blocked Oklahoma Sooners' field goal attempt in the second overtime. The game lasted four hours and five minutes. With 26.8 million viewers on ESPN, the game ranked as the fifth most-viewed cable program of all time.


2018 Rose Bowl
The game was one of the 2017–18 bowl games that concluded the 2017 FBS football season. It was televised on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, and broadcast on ESPN Radio and XM Satellite Radio, with the kickoff at 5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. local time). The Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association organized the game. Sponsored by the Northwestern Mutual financial services organization, the game was officially known as the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual.


2018 Rose Bowl, Pre-game activities
Pre -game activities were held at the Rose Bowl parking lots and at Brookside Golf Course. The 2017 Rose Bowl Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony was held at the Rose Bowl Stadium Lot K on December 30, 2017 from 12:00 to 1:30 PM. The 2017 Class members were Mack Brown (Texas), Cade McNown (UCLA), Charles Woodson (Michigan) and Dr. Charles West (Washington & Jefferson), represented by his daughter.


2018 Rose Bowl, Pre-game activities, Pre-game Rose Parade
The 2018 Rose Parade started at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time and featured floral floats, marching bands, and equestrian units marching down the 5.5 mile route of the parade down Colorado Boulevard.


2018 Rose Bowl, Pre-game activities, Pre-game Rose Parade
The 2018 Rose Parade's theme was “Making A Difference,” and actor Gary Sinise was its Grand Marshal.


2018 Rose Bowl, Pre-game buildup, Team selection
In the 2018 Rose Bowl, the #2-ranked Oklahoma Sooners, champions of the Big 12 Conference, faced the #3-ranked Georgia Bulldogs, champions of the Southeastern Conference. This was the first meeting between the University of Georgia and the University of Oklahoma football teams.


2018 Rose Bowl, Pre-game buildup, Team selection
Traditionally, the Rose Bowl pits the winners of the Big Ten Conference and Pac-12 Conference. However, any teams may be selected every three years, when the Rose Bowl is a CFP semifinal. The Big 12 and SEC champions traditionally meet in the Sugar Bowl. The 2018 Sugar Bowl was used as the other semifinal this year, allowing any team to be selected.


2018 Rose Bowl, Pre-game buildup, Team selection
As a result of Oklahoma and Georgia making it to the Rose Bowl, it was the first time since the 2015 Rose Bowl (CFP Semifinal) that the Big Ten Conference was not featured in the game. It was the first time since the 2011 edition that the Pac-12 Conference was not featured. It was the first time since the 2006 edition (BCS National Championship Game) in which one of the participants was a Power 5 team outside of the two traditional conferences.


2018 Rose Bowl, Pre-game buildup, Team selection
That same 2006 game was also the last time the Big 12 Conference appeared in the Rose Bowl until 2018. It was also the first time since the 1946 Rose Bowl that an SEC appeared in the game. Lastly, it was the first time since the 2002 edition of the bowl game (also a BCS National Championship Game) that neither the Big Ten Conference nor the Pac-12 Conference was in the Rose Bowl (Nebraska was still in the Big 12 at the time).


2018 Rose Bowl, Pre-game buildup, Team selection
The matchups for the semifinals are geographically selected to ensure the top two teams do not play in road environments. More than one team from the same conference may participate in the game, and avoiding rematches is not a selection factor.


2018 Rose Bowl, Pre-game buildup, Experience in the Rose Bowl
Georgia won their only previous Rose Bowl appearance when their 1942 team, which claims a national championship, beat the Pacific Coast Conference (predecessor to the Pac-12) champion UCLA 9–0 in 1943, a matchup which occurred prior to the Big Nine-PCC agreement. Oklahoma won their only previous Rose Bowl appearance when their 2002 team beat the then Pac-10 champion Washington State 34–14 in 2003, a matchup which occurred since Big Ten champion Ohio State was selected for the Fiesta Bowl, which was being used as that year's BCS National Championship Game, and Oklahoma was selected to replace them.


2018 Rose Bowl, Pre-game buildup, Georgia
Georgia opened the 2017 season as the No. 15 team in both the AP and Coaches Polls. In the season opener, the Georgia Bulldogs faced the Appalachian State Mountaineers. During the first quarter, starting quarterback Jacob Eason was injured in an out-of-bounds hit that strained his knee. Freshman quarterback Jake Fromm replaced Eason. Fromm started as quarterback the rest of the season.


2018 Rose Bowl, Pre-game buildup, Georgia
Georgia traveled to its first away and out-of-conference game against the No. 24 Notre Dame Fighting Irish on September 9, 2017. The score was back-and-forth the whole game, until Rodrigo Blankenship scored a field goal with 3:34 to go in the fourth quarter, giving Georgia a 20–19 lead. On 1st-and-10, Georgia linebacker Davin Bellamy sacked quarterback Brandon Wimbush, and forced a fumble, which Georgia's Lorenzo Carter recovered. The Bulldogs held the field, winning the game. The Bulldogs returned home for the next two weeks, beating the Samford Bulldogs 42–14 and the No.17 Mississippi State Bulldogs 31–3.


2018 Rose Bowl, Pre-game buildup, Georgia
On September 30, 2017, No. 7 Georgia traveled to Knoxville to play longtime SEC East rival the Tennessee Volunteers after losing to them at home in 2016. The Bulldogs defeated the Volunteers in a 41–0 shutout, which was Tennessee's worst home loss since 1905. The following week, Georgia returned to Tennessee to play the Vanderbilt Commodores, winning 45–14. Undefeated No. 4 Georgia faced the Missouri Tigers back home in Athens, winning 53–28. During that game, Georgia gained 696 total yards, the second-highest in school history.


2018 Rose Bowl, Pre-game buildup, Georgia
When Georgia faced their biggest rival, the Florida Gators, in the annual neutral-location game, Georgia remained undefeated and beat Florida 42–7, the biggest win in the rivalry since 1982. After Florida's loss to Georgia, they fired head coach Jim McElwain. The following week, Georgia beat the South Carolina Gamecocks 24–10, clinching the SEC East and their spot in the SEC Championship.


2018 Rose Bowl, Pre-game buildup, Georgia
On November 11, 2017, Georgia lost to the Auburn Tigers 17–40 in what would be their only loss of the regular season. Georgia wrapped up the regular season by beating the Kentucky Wildcats 42–13 and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 38–7. On December 2, 2017, No.6 Georgia joined No. 4 Auburn in the SEC Championship, the only team who beat them during the regular season.


2018 Rose Bowl, Pre-game buildup, Georgia
In the rematch, Georgia took the lead in the second quarter when Georgia linebacker Davin Bellamy stripped the ball from Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham, recovered by Roquan Smith and leading to Georgia's drive that tied the score. Georgia took the SEC title for the first time since 2005, almost certainly securing their spot in the playoffs.


2018 Rose Bowl, Pre-game buildup, Oklahoma
In the 2017 preseason polls, Oklahoma was ranked No. 7 in the AP Poll and No. 8 in the Coaches Poll. Oklahoma opened the season against the University of Texas at El Paso Miners, winning 56–7 and showcasing a strong offense. Next, No. 6 Oklahoma traveled to the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes and won 31–16. In Oklahoma's first meeting with the Tulane Green Wave, No. 2 Oklahoma won 56–14. They went on to play the Baylor Bears, eking out an expected blowout but still winning 49–41.


2018 Rose Bowl, Pre-game buildup, Oklahoma
In Oklahoma's big upset of the season, they lost to the Iowa State Cyclones 31–38. They went on to beat the Texas Longhorns 29–24 after Texas recovered from a 20-point deficit. The Sooners also began the next game against the Kansas State Wildcats with a 14-point deficit in the first half, but in a second-half comeback, Rodney Anderson scored a 22-yard touchdown with seven seconds left in the game, winning 42–35. Against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, Mayfield led the team to a 49–27 victory.


2018 Rose Bowl, Pre-game buildup, Oklahoma
Oklahoma met the Oklahoma State Cowboys for their annual rivalry game, and quarterback Baker Mayfield completed 598 yards, winning 62–52. The No. 5 Sooners beat the No. 6 Texas Christian University Horned Frogs 38–20, taking 1st place in the Big 12. In the next away game against the Kansas Jayhawks, Mayfield accounted for his 127th touchdown, breaking Landry Jones's record as completing the most touchdowns in school history, and they won the game 41–3. During the game, Mayfield lost his captaincy for the following game against the West Virginia Mountaineers when he screamed profanity and grabbed his crotch, which he directed at the Kansas sideline. Mayfield's replacement, Kyler Murray, started the game, but Mayfield returned and won 59–31.


2018 Rose Bowl, Pre-game buildup, Oklahoma
On December 2, 2017, No. 2 Oklahoma joined No. 10 TCU in a rematch in the Big 12 Championship, winning 41–17. The game secured Oklahoma's spot in the College Football Playoff semifinals.


2018 Rose Bowl, Game summary
Oklahoma scored on five of six possessions in the first half, and they entered halftime leading Georgia by 14 points.


2018 Rose Bowl, Game summary
The 54–48 score made this the highest-scoring Rose Bowl, edging out 2017's University of Southern California 52–49 win over Penn State.


2018 Rose Bowl, Game summary, First quarter
After winning the coin toss, Oklahoma elected to defer and kick off. Georgia was forced to punt the ball on the first drive of the game, giving Oklahoma its first possession. Oklahoma's quarterback Baker Mayfield completed three passes, the third to Marquise Brown in the end zone, scoring the first touchdown of the day.


2018 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Second quarter
At the end of the second quarter, the Sooners employed a double reverse, and Baker Mayfield caught his first pass in college to score a 2-yard touchdown.


2018 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Second quarter
Georgia received its possession with only 6 seconds on the clock, and Rodrigo Blankenship scored a 55-yard field goal. Blankenship set a Rose Bowl record for longest field goal kick.


2018 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Third quarter
The Sooners led 31–17 at halftime but the Bulldogs scored fourteen unanswered points in the third quarter.


2018 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Fourth quarter
The game went back and forth in the last quarter. Baker Mayfield threw the first interception of the game, as Dominick Sanders intercepted his pass. Jake Fromm completed a 4-yard pass to Javon Wims, taking the lead for the first time in the game, at 38–31.


2018 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Fourth quarter
Oklahoma tied the game back up, with Dimitri Flowers scoring a touchdown with 8:47 left in the game. Sony Michel fumbled in the next possession, and Oklahoma's Steven Parker recovered the fumble and returned it 46 yards to score a touchdown, putting the Sooners in the lead again.


2018 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Fourth quarter
With fifty-five seconds left in the game, Nick Chubb took a direct snap and rushed for two yards for a game-tying touchdown. Oklahoma did not score on its last drive of regulation game, forcing overtime.


2018 Rose Bowl, Game summary, First overtime
The game went into overtime and was the first Rose Bowl in history to do so. The Sooners won the overtime coin toss and elected to play defense first. The teams traded field goals in the first overtime, sending the game into a second overtime.


2018 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Second overtime
Georgia's Lorenzo Carter blocked Oklahoma kicker Austin Seibert's 27-yard field goal attempt, meaning Georgia would win the game with any points during its possession. When Georgia had the ball, Sony Michel took a direct snap on a second down and rushed for a 27-yard touchdown, winning the game for the Bulldogs.


2018 Rose Bowl, Rose Bowl records
In this game, a number of Rose Bowl records were set:


2018 Rose of Tralee
The 2018 Rose of Tralee was the 59th edition of the annual Irish international festival held on 20–21 August 2018. The competition was televised live on RTÉ television. 57 women from all over the world took part during the Rose of Tralee festival with 32 going on to the live shows.


2018 Rose of Tralee
The Waterford Rose, 21-year-old Kirsten Mate Maher was named as the 2018 International Rose of Tralee. Of Irish and Zambian heritage, Mate Maher is the first African-Irish rose to win the competition. Roscommon man Paul Clabby won the Rose of Tralee Escort of the year.


2018 Rosenborg BK season
The 2018 season is Rosenborg's 39th consecutive year in the top flight now known as Eliteserien, their 51st season in the top flight of Norwegian football. They will participate in Eliteserien, the Cup, the 2018 Mesterfinalen and the 2018-19 UEFA Champions League, entering at the First qualifying round stage. Kåre Ingebrigtsen started the season as manager but the club decided to remove him from the job after 4 years on July 19 and made Head of the academy Rini Coolen the manager.


2018 Rosenborg BK season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2018 Rosenborg BK season, Transfers, Winter
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2018 Rosenborg BK season, Transfers, Winter
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2018 Rosenborg BK season, Transfers, Summer
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2018 Rosenborg BK season, Transfers, Summer
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2018 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships
The 2018 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships (also known as the Libéma Open for sponsorship reasons) was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 29th edition of the event, and part of the 250 Series of the 2018 ATP World Tour, and of the WTA International tournaments of the 2018 WTA Tour. Both the men's and the women's events took place at the Autotron park in Rosmalen, 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, from June 11 through June 17, 2018.


2018 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, ATP doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pair received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2018 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, WTA doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2018 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships – Men's Doubles
Łukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo were the defending champions, but lost in the semifinals to Dominic Inglot and Franko Škugor.


2018 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships – Men's Doubles
Inglot and Škugor went on to win the title, defeating Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus in the final, 7–6(7–3), 7–5.


2018 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships – Men's Singles
Gilles Müller was the defending champion, but lost in the second round to Matthew Ebden.


2018 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships – Men's Singles
Richard Gasquet won the title, defeating Jérémy Chardy in the final, 6–3, 7–6(7–5).


2018 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships – Men's Singles, Seeds
The top four seeds receive a bye into the second round.


2018 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships – Women's Doubles
Dominika Cibulková and Kirsten Flipkens were the defending champions, but Cibulková chose not to participate this year. Flipkens played alongside Kiki Bertens, but lost in the final to Elise Mertens and Demi Schuurs when Flipkens had to retire with the score at 3–3.


2018 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships – Women's Singles
Anett Kontaveit was the defending champion, but lost in the first round to Veronika Kudermetova.


2018 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships – Women's Singles
Aleksandra Krunić won her first WTA singles title, defeating Kirsten Flipkens in the final, 6–7(0–7), 7–5, 6–1.


2018 Rostelecom Cup
The 2018 Rostelecom Cup was the fifth event of six in the 2018–19 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held on November 16–18, 2018 in Moscow, Russia. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Skaters earned points toward qualifying for the 2018–19 Grand Prix Final.


2018 Rostelecom Cup, Entries
The ISU published the preliminary assignments on June 29, 2018.


2018 Rostelecom Cup, Records
The following new ISU best scores were set during this competition:


2018 Rostelecom Cup, Results, Men
Yuzuru Hanyu set a new world record for the short program (110.53).


2018 Royal Bank Cup
The 2018 Royal Bank Cup was the 48th Canadian junior A Ice Hockey National Championship for the Canadian Junior Hockey League and the 48th consecutive year a national championship was awarded to this skill level since the breakaway of Major Junior hockey in 1970. The tournament was played at the Prospera Centre in Chilliwack, British Columbia.


2018 Royal London One-Day Cup
The 2018 Royal London One-Day Cup tournament was a limited overs cricket competition that formed part of the 2018 domestic cricket season in England and Wales. Matches were contested over 50 overs per side and have List A cricket status. All 18 first-class counties competed in the tournament, which ran from the middle of May until the end of June, when the final took place at Lord's. Nottinghamshire were the defending champions of the tournament, having beaten Surrey in 2017 final.


2018 Royal London One-Day Cup, Format
The competition featured two groups of nine teams, based on a rough North–South geographical split. Each team played eight matches during the group stage, playing every other member of their group once, with four matches at home and four away. The group stage took place from the middle of May to the beginning of June, with the group winners progressing straight to the semi-finals and the second and third placed teams in each group playing a play-off against a team from the other group with the winner progressing to one of the semi-final matches. The only change for the 2018 competition from 2017 is the quarter-finals stage is renamed as the play-offs.


2018 Royal London One-Day Cup, Knockout stage
The winner of each group progressed straight to the semi-finals with the second and third placed teams playing a play-off match against a team from the other group which made up the play-offs. The winner of each play-off played one of the group winners in the semi-finals. The final took place at Lord's on 30 June 2018, with Hampshire defeating Kent Spitfires by 61 runs.


2018 Rugby Africa season
The 2018 Rugby Africa season contains a series of rugby union tournaments scheduled for 2018 and organised by the governing body of rugby union in Africa, Rugby Africa. The top-tier event is the Rugby Africa Gold Cup – formerly simply known as the Africa Cup – a six-team competition which was played on a round-robin basis from May to August 2018.


2018 Rugby Africa season, Teams
The following teams will take part in the 2018 Rugby Africa season.


2018 Rugby Africa season, Gold Cup
The 2018 edition of the Rugby Africa Gold Cup will be played by the national teams of Namibia, Kenya, Uganda, Morocco, Zimbabwe and Tunisia. The competition will be played in a league format with 15 home or away matches (dependent on their 2017 league position) between the 16th of June and the 18th of August 2018. Points accumulated for the 2018 edition are as follows:


2018 Rugby Africa season, Gold Cup
Victory: 4 points + 1 bonus point for winning by three tries or more. Draw: 2 pointsLoss: 0 point + 1 bonus point for losing by 7 points or less


2018 Rugby Africa season, Gold Cup
This year's edition also doubles as qualification for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. The first place team will qualify for the World Cup directly, while the 2nd place team will qualify for the Repechage competition. All others will be eliminated from World Cup contention.


2018 Rugby Africa season, Silver Cup
Unlike the 2017 edition, the 2018 Silver Cup will be split into two groups of 3 teams each. By beating Zambia 31-0, Algeria won the competition and will automatically join the Gold Cup alongside Zambia.


2018 Rugby Africa season, Bronze Cup
The 2018 Bronze Cup was contested as a single elimination bracket with 4 teams.


2018 Rugby Americas North Championship
The 2018 Rugby Americas North Championship, the 11th edition of the tournament, is a rugby union championship for Tier 3 North American and Caribbean teams.


2018 Rugby Americas North Championship, Format
A significant restructuring of the tournament took place for the 2018 edition in order to accommodate the launch of the Americas Rugby Challenge. Unlike previous editions of the tournament, the teams will not be split geographically into north and south conferences, but will instead be combined into three tiered divisions: the Championship, the Cup, and the Trophy. Mexico and Guyana do not return to the RAN Championship as they are competing in the 2018 Americas Rugby Challenge. The lower placed of those two teams will enter a promotion/relegation playoff with the top team in the RAN Championship (excluding USA South) for a place in the 2019 Americas Rugby Challenge.


2018 Rugby Americas North Championship, Championship
While Trinidad and Tobago played two of their games, they were removed from tournament standings due to being unable to rearrange their fixture against Cayman Islands, scheduled for June 23, due to a lack of funding.


2018 Rugby Challenge
The 2018 Rugby Challenge – known as the SuperSport Rugby Challenge for sponsorship reasons –  was the second edition of the Rugby Challenge, the secondary domestic rugby union competition in South Africa. The competition was organised by the South African Rugby Union and was played between 21 April and 15 July 2018. The competition featured all fourteen South African provincial unions plus Namibian side the  Welwitschias.


2018 Rugby Challenge
The competition was won by the  Pumas for the first time, after they beat  Griquas 32–30 in the final in Oudtshoorn. Pumas fly-half Chris Smith was the top scorer in the competition with 131 points, while Griquas wing Enver Brandt was the top try scorer with 11 tries.


2018 Rugby Challenge, Competition rules and information
The fifteen teams in the competition were divided into three regional sections of five teams. Each team played home and away matches against the other four teams in their section over a ten-week period. The top two teams from each pool, along with the two third-placed teams with the best record progressed to the play-offs, which consisted of quarter finals, a semi-final and a final.


2018 Rugby Challenge, Teams
The teams that competed in the 2018 Rugby Challenge are:


2018 Rugby Challenge, Northern Section, Round-by-round
The table below shows each team's progression throughout the season. For each round, each team's cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets.


2018 Rugby Challenge, Central Section, Round-by-round
The table below shows each team's progression throughout the season. For each round, each team's cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets.


2018 Rugby Challenge, Southern Section, Round-by-round
The table below shows each team's progression throughout the season. For each round, each team's cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets.


2018 Rugby Challenge, Honours
The honour roll for the 2018 Rugby Challenge was as follows:


2018 Rugby Challenge, Players, Squads
The following squads were named for the 2018 Rugby Challenge:


2018 Rugby Challenge, Players, Top scorers
The top ten try and point scorers during the 2018 Rugby Challenge were:


2018 Rugby Challenge, Referees
The following referees officiated matches in the 2018 Rugby Challenge:


2018 Rugby Championship
The 2018 Rugby Championship was the seventh edition of the expanded annual southern hemisphere Rugby Championship, featuring Argentina, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. The competition is operated by SANZAAR, a joint venture of the four countries' national unions.


2018 Rugby Championship
The tournament continued to use the same sequence of games across the schedule, starting on 18 August with Australia hosting reigning champions New Zealand and South Africa hosting Argentina, and ending after eight weeks (six rounds and two bye weeks) on 6 October when New Zealand visited South Africa and Australia played in Argentina.


2018 Rugby Championship
New Zealand won the Championship for the sixth time after a 35-17 win over Argentina in Buenos Aires on 29 September.


2018 Rugby Championship, Background
The tournament is operated by SANZAAR and known for sponsorship reasons as The Castle Rugby Championship in South Africa, The Investec Rugby Championship in New Zealand, The Mitsubishi Estate Rugby Championship in Australia, and The Personal Rugby Championship in Argentina.


2018 Rugby Championship, Format
The format for the 2018 tournament retained the previous Championship format that changed in 2017. Each side played the other once at home, and once away, giving a total of six matches each, and twelve in total. A win earned a team four league points, a draw two league points, and a loss by eight or more points zero league points. A bonus point was earned in one of two ways: by scoring at least three tries more than the opponent in a match, or by losing within seven points. The competition winner was the side with the most points at the end of the tournament.


2018 Rugby Championship, Results, Round 1
Touch judges:Wayne Barnes (England)Luke Pearce (England)Television match official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)


2018 Rugby Championship, Results, Round 1
Touch judges:Angus Gardner (Australia)Andrew Brace (Ireland)Television match official:Simon McDowell (Ireland)


2018 Rugby Championship, Results, Round 2
Touch judges:Jaco Peyper (South Africa)Luke Pearce (England)Television match official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)


2018 Rugby Championship, Results, Round 2
Touch judges:Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)Andrew Brace (Ireland)Television match official:Simon McDowell (Ireland)


2018 Rugby Championship, Results, Round 3
Touch judges:Nigel Owens (Wales)Nic Berry (Australia)Television match official:Rowan Kitt (England)


2018 Rugby Championship, Results, Round 3
Touch judges:John Lacey (Ireland)Paul Williams (New Zealand)Television match official:Glenn Newman (New Zealand)


2018 Rugby Championship, Results, Round 4
Touch judges:Pascal Gaüzère (France)Nic Berry (Australia)Television match official:Rowan Kitt (England)


2018 Rugby Championship, Results, Round 4
Touch judges:Glen Jackson (New Zealand)Paul Williams (New Zealand)Television match official:Glenn Newman (New Zealand)


2018 Rugby Championship, Results, Round 5
Touch judges:Wayne Barnes (England)Matthew Carley (England)Television match official:Graham Hughes (England)


2018 Rugby Championship, Results, Round 5
Touch judges:Jaco Peyper (South Africa)Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)Television match official:David Grashoff (England)


2018 Rugby Championship, Results, Round 6
Touch judges:Jérôme Garcès (France)Matthew Carley (England)Television match official:Graham Hughes (England)


2018 Rugby Championship, Results, Round 6
Touch judges:Mathieu Raynal (France)Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)Television match official:David Grashoff (England)


2018 Rugby Championship, Squads, Summary
Note: Ages, caps and clubs/franchises are of 18 August 2018 – the starting date of the tournament


2018 Rugby Championship, Squads, Argentina
On 6 August, newly appointed head coach Mario Ledesma named a 36-man squad for the Championship.


2018 Rugby Championship, Squads, Argentina
1 Ahead of the traveling to South Africa for the opening match, Tomás Lezana joined the squad after recovering from injury.


2018 Rugby Championship, Squads, Argentina
2 On 9 August, Juan Figallo became the first European based player to be selected for the national side since the 2015 World Cup, after a change of selection policy under Ledesma.


2018 Rugby Championship, Squads, Argentina
3 On 19 August, Santiago Álvarez, Facundo Bosch and Santiago Carreras joined the ahead of the round 2 home clash against South Africa.


2018 Rugby Championship, Squads, Argentina
4 On 27 August, Gaston Cortes joined the squad for the Oceania leg of the Championship in rounds 3 and 4.


2018 Rugby Championship, Squads, Argentina
5 On 19 September, Ramiro Herrera, Matías Osadczuk, Lucas Paulos and Enrique Pieretto joined were added as part of the training squad ahead of the fifth round clash with New Zealand.


2018 Rugby Championship, Squads, Argentina
6 On 24 September, Manuel Montero joined the squad as injury cover for Ramiro Moyano.


2018 Rugby Championship, Squads, Argentina
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2018 Rugby Championship, Squads, Australia
On 5 August, Michael Cheika named a 36-man extended squad ahead of the Championship.


2018 Rugby Championship, Squads, Australia
1 On 21 September, Jake Gordon and Angus Cottrell were added to the squad for the final two rounds of the Championship, with the latter replacing Lukhan Tui who withdrew from the squad for personal reasons.


2018 Rugby Championship, Squads, New Zealand
On 6 August 2018, Hansen named a 33-man squad ahead of the Championship.


2018 Rugby Championship, Squads, New Zealand
Liam Coltman and Ngani Laumape were included in the squad as injury covers for Dane Coles and Sonny Bill Williams respectively.


2018 Rugby Championship, Squads, New Zealand
1 On 16 August, Ofa Tu'ungafasi, after being named in the match-day team for the opening round, was withdrawn due to injury and Jeffery Toomaga-Allen joined the squad as a precautionary injury cover.


2018 Rugby Championship, Squads, New Zealand
2 On 30 August, Angus Ta'avao joined the squad as an injury replacement for Joe Moody who was ruled out of the rest of the Championship.


2018 Rugby Championship, Squads, New Zealand
3 On 9 September, Patrick Tuipulotu joined the squad as an injury replacement for Brodie Retallick.


2018 Rugby Championship, Squads, New Zealand
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2018 Rugby Championship, Squads, South Africa
On 26 May 2018, head coach Rassie Erasmus named the following 35-man squad for South Africa's Rugby Championship campaign:


2018 Rugby Championship, Squads, South Africa
Cyle Brink withdrew from the squad on 16 August 2018 after sustaining a knee injury in training. He was not replaced.


2018 Rugby Championship, Squads, South Africa
1 On 31 August, Schalk Brits, Damian de Allende and Cheslin Kolbe were added to the squad ahead of the Australasian leg of the Championship in rounds 3 and 4.


2018 Rugby Championship, Squads, South Africa
2 On 23 September, Vincent Koch, Ruhan Nel and S'busiso Nkosi were added to the squad ahead of round 5 and 6.


2018 Rugby Europe Championship
The 2018 Rugby Europe Championship is the premier rugby union competition outside of the Six Nations Championship in Europe. This is the second season under its new format, that saw Georgia, Germany, Romania, Russia, Spain and Belgium compete for the title.


2018 Rugby Europe Championship
This year's edition of the Rugby Europe Championship also served as a key stage of the European region qualification process for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. The team with the best record across the 2017 and 2018 Championships qualified as Europe 1. As Georgia have already secured qualification automatically, results involving that team are discarded for the purposes of Rugby World Cup qualification.


2018 Rugby Europe Championship
Both the Championship and the Qualification Process were heavily affected by controversial disciplinary issues involving player eligibility and the selection of neutral officials (namely, Romanian referee Vlad Iordachescu in Belgium-Spain). In respect of matters relating to the eligibility of players, following a full review of the evidence, including statements and submissions from World Rugby, Rugby Europe, Belgium, Romania, Spain and Russia, the independent committee found:


2018 Rugby Europe Championship
In respect of sanctions, pursuant to Regulation 18, the independent committee determined the following:


2018 Rugby Europe Championship
The deduction of 5 points for any match in which a union fielded an ineligible player. in practice this meant the following


2018 Rugby Europe Championship
Therefore, based on a re-modelling of the Rugby Europe Championship tables in the context of Rugby World Cup 2019 qualifying, Russia would qualify as Europe 1 into Pool A replacing Romania and Germany will replace Spain in the European play-off against Portugal.


2018 Rugby Europe Championship
Georgia's victory in the 2018 Rugby Europe Championship itself was unaffected. Germany's proposed promotion/relegation play-off with Portugal, however, becomes a Romania-Portugal play-off. Ironically, Germany would now face Portugal in the Rugby World Cup European qualification play-off.


2018 Rugby Europe Sevens Conferences
The 2018 Rugby Europe Sevens Conferences are the lower divisions of Rugby Europe's 2018 sevens season. Conference 1 is held in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the two top-placing teams advancing to the 2019 Trophy, while Conference 2 is held in Tallinn, Estonia, with the top two advancing to Conference 1 for 2019.


2018 Rugby Europe Sevens Conferences, Conference 1
Will be held in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina on 23–24 June.


2018 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series
The 2018 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series serves as a qualifying tournament for the 2019 Hong Kong Sevens qualifier. The three top placing 2018-2019 non-core World Series teams — Ireland, Germany, and Russia — advance to the 2019 Hong Kong Sevens qualification tournament. Ireland won the series, winning three out of the four tournaments.


2018 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series
The non-hosting team with the fewest points — Sweden — is relegated to the 2019 Trophy tournament.


2018 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series, Standings
⍻ Russia started this series as a World Series core team but lost its core status at the 2018 Paris Sevens on June 10, 2018.


2018 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series, Standings
* Poland cannot be relegated due to being a host nation


2018 Rugby Europe Sevens Trophy
The 2018 Rugby Europe Sevens Trophy is the second division of Rugby Europe's 2018 sevens season. This edition was hosted by the cities of Zagreb and Šiauliai from 7 June to 1 July, with the winner promoted to the 2019 Grand Prix and the two teams with the fewest points relegated to 2019 Conference 1.


2018 Rugby Europe Women's Championship
The 2018 Rugby Europe Women's Championship was the 22nd edition of Rugby Europe's top division competition for women's national rugby union teams, and the tenth such tournament for which the European Championship title was awarded. The tournament was held in Belgium from 27 February to 3 March 2018 as a knockout competition, with matches played at Brussels and Waterloo. Spain won the championship to take its third European title and second in a row.


2018 Rugby Europe Women's Championship, Format
The four teams, based on the world rankings at the time of issuing the tournament regulations, were assigned a seeding from 1 to 4, the highest being that of Spain and, subsequently, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The format was a four team semifinal bracket, with the teams seeded 1 and 2 meeting the teams seeded 4 and 3 respectively. A final for the title was played between the two winners and a match for third place was played by the defeated semifinal teams. All competitions took place at the Stade du Pachy in Waterloo  except for the final held at the Petit Heysel in Brussels.


2018 Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Conference
The 2018 Rugby Europe Women's Conference is the third division of the 2018 season of the Rugby Europe Women's Sevens. The tournament will be held in Zagreb, Croatia on 8–9 June, with the two highest-placing teams promoted to the 2019 Trophy.


2018 Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Grand Prix Series
The 2018 Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Grand Prix Series was the 2018 edition of the annual rugby sevens competition for national women's teams in Rugby Europe. The top non-core teams will participate in a 2019 Hong Kong Women's Sevens for qualification into 2019-20 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series, and the bottom two will be relegated to the 2019 Trophy.


2018 Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Trophy
The 2018 Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Trophy is the second division of the 2018 Rugby Europe Women's Sevens. This edition was hosted by the cities of Dnipro and Szeged from 23 June to 1 July, with the two highest-placed teams promoted to the 2019 Grand Prix and the two teams with the fewest points relegated to the 2019 Conference.


2018 Rugby League Commonwealth Championship
The 2018 Rugby League Commonwealth Championship was a rugby league nines tournament organised by the Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) to be played in Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia in February 2018. The event, featured eight men's teams, six women's teams and three physical disability teams, was one of the exhibition sports for the 2018 Commonwealth Games and was in support of the bid for rugby league nines to be a full medal event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.


2018 Rugby League Commonwealth Championship
The tournament was dominated by Australia, who won all three competitions.


2018 Rugby League Commonwealth Championship, Competing nations and pools
The 2014 tournament limited the men's competition to under-18 players. For this competition the upper age was increased to make the tournament an under-23 competition.


2018 Rugby League Commonwealth Championship, Fixtures
All the games were played at Dolphin Stadium, home of Queensland rugby league side, Redcliffe Dolphins, on 23 and 24 February. All the pool games in the men's and women's teams were played on 23 February with the play-offs and medal matches played on 24 February. In the physical disability tournament four match were played on the first day with two more and the gold medal match played on the second day.


2018 Rugby League Commonwealth Championship, Physical disabilities tournament, Play-off
Australia were declared the gold medalists due to having a better pool result.


2018 Rugby League European Championship
The 2018 European Championship is an international rugby league tournament that took place in October and November 2018. Four teams competed in the tournament, which forms the top tier of European international competition, and the first stage of qualification for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. The winner and runner-up will automatically qualify for the World Cup, while the third and fourth placed teams will enter the European play-off qualifying competition.


2018 Rugby League European Championship, Teams
The championship will be contested by the national teams of France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Wales are the defending champions having won the previous competition, the 2015 European Cup.


2018 Rugby League European Championship, Standings
The championship is a single round-robin tournament with two points awarded for a win and one point for a draw. The matches will take place over three consecutive weekends commencing 26 October 2018.


2018 Rugby League European Championship B
The 2018 Rugby League European Championship B (known as Euro B) was the second phase of European qualifying to the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. The series involved three teams in pool play and took place in October 2018. The two highest ranked teams, Russia and Spain, advanced to the European play-off. In August 2019 Russia withdrew from the play-off tournament and were replace by Serbia.


2018 Rugby League Qualifiers
The 2018 Rugby League Qualifiers is the format used in European rugby league, to determine promotion and relegation between the top two divisions, and forms the second phase of Super League XXIII and the 2018 Rugby League Championship.


2018 Rugby League Qualifiers
Existing Super League sides; Salford Red Devils, Leeds Rhinos and Hull Kingston Rovers reconfirmed their Super League status but Widnes Vikings were relegated to the Championship after only winning one of their seven games. They will be replaced in Super League by London Broncos, who defeated Toronto Wolfpack 4-2 in the Million Pound Game, ending the Broncos four year exile from Super League.


2018 Rugby League Qualifiers, Format
The Qualifiers sees the bottom four teams from Super League, join the top 4 teams from the Championship. The points totals are reset to zero, and each team plays seven games each, playing every other team once. The teams finishing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd will gain qualification to the Super League XXIV season. The teams finishing 4th and 5th, will play in the "Million Pound Game", at the home of the 4th place team to determine who will take the final place to gain promotion to Super League XXIV. The loser, along with teams finishing 6th, 7th and 8th, will be relegated to the Championship.


2018 Rugby League Qualifiers, Fixtures and results
Each team plays seven fixtures. The teams that finished 9th and 10th in Super League and 1st and 2nd in the Championship each play four home fixtures and three away with the other four teams playing three at home and four away.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens
The 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the seventh edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Organised by World Rugby, it was held at AT&T Park, now known as Oracle Park, in San Francisco, United States. A total of 84 matches were played over three days from July 20–22, 2018. The men’s tournament had 24 teams and the women’s tournament 16, with both tournaments being played for the first time in a knock-out only format. New Zealand won the championship for both events — defeating England in the men's final and France in the women's final.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens, Bidding
The bidding timeline for hosting the tournament was as follows:


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens, Bidding
The following 14 countries declared their interest in bidding to host the event:


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens, Venue
USA Rugby selected the San Francisco Bay Area as the host candidate. The venue was AT&T Park, home to the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens, Venue
When the event was awarded to the Bay Area in May 2015, Avaya Stadium, home to the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer, was announced as a second venue. However, the following year, Avaya Stadium was dropped as a venue.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens, Popularity
The three-day tournament was the most-watched live rugby cast in the USA on record. In the U.S. Day 2 coverage achieved a rating of 1.0, while Day 3 coverage attained a 1.1. Coverage reached nine million viewers across NBC five telecasts, with finals day coverage averaging 1.365 million viewers. Over 100,000 fans attended the three day event.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens, Schedule
Over the three days of competition there was a total of 84 matches played across both the men's and women's competitions.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens, Qualifying – Men
Twenty four teams participate in the men's World Cup Sevens. Nine teams automatically qualify — eight by reaching the quarterfinals at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens, and one host nation. Additionally, the top four teams not already qualified from the 2016–17 World Sevens Series also qualify. The remaining 11 teams qualify through continental qualifiers — two from each of the six regions, except North America which gets only one additional place.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens, Qualifying – Women
Sixteen teams play at the women's World Cup Sevens. Four teams automatically qualified by reaching the semifinals at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens. Additionally, the top four teams not already qualified from the 2016–17 Women's World Sevens Series also qualified. The remaining eight places will be filled via continental qualifiers.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifying – Men
This is the qualifications of the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens aimed at selecting men's rugby sevens national teams that appeared in the finals in San Francisco. A total of 55 nations took part in the qualifying process.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifying – Men, General
The tournament is organized by World Rugby to be held on 20–22 July 2018, with twenty-four teams in attendance. Automatic qualification is extended to the host and the eight quarterfinalists of the previous World Cup. Four more teams qualified based on placement in the 2016-17 World Rugby Sevens Series, and the remainder are to be decided in each of the six regions' respective tournaments.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifying – Men, Qualifying, Africa
Ten teams competed in Rugby Africa's Sevens tournament on 6–7 October 2017 in Kampala, Uganda, and contested the two qualifying slots. By making it to the finals then winning, Uganda makes its first ever World Cup appearance.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifying – Men, Qualifying, North America
The qualifying tournament, which is also Rugby Americas North Sevens, took place at the Campo Marte in Mexico City, 25–26 November 2017. Jamaica won the tournament to make its first World Cup appearance.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifying – Men, Qualifying, South America
The 2017 Bolivarian Games rugby sevens tournament on 19–21 November served as the first part of the South American qualification process. Silver-winning Paraguay advanced to the 2018 Sudamérica Rugby Sevens, where from 6–14 January they compete alongside Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay and some invitational teams. After the two tournaments, respective third and fourth-place finishers Uruguay and Chile qualified.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifying – Men, Qualifying, Asia
From 1 September to 14 October, eight teams competed in Hong Kong, Incheon and Colombo for two World Cup slots. Japan and Hong Kong respectively rounded up the top two teams, making them eligible for the World Cup.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifying – Men, Qualifying, Europe
From 4 June to 16 July 2017, twelve teams competed at the Sevens Grand Prix in Moscow, Łódź, Clermont-Ferrand and Exeter, of which nine contested two World Cup spots with England, France and Wales already automatically qualified.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifying – Men, Qualifying, Oceania
Thirteen teams competed on 10–11 November 2017 in Suva, Fiji, of which nine teams sought one of the two allotted World Cup slots based upon their placement with Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Samoa already qualified. With Papua New Guinea claiming that slot, the second continental slot was awarded to the champion of the 2017 Pacific Mini Games tournament on 8–9 December. Through edging out Solomon Islands for the Bronze Medal, only behind Fiji and Samoa, Tonga qualified.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifying – Women
This is the qualifications of the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens – Women's tournament aimed at selecting women's Rugby sevens national teams that appeared in the finals in San Francisco. A total of 52 nations took part in the qualifying process.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifying – Women, General
The tournament is organized by World Rugby to be held on 20–22 July 2018, with sixteen teams in attendance. Automatic qualification is extended the semi-finalists of the previous World Cup (of which host United States is one). Four other bids were determined by placement in the 2016-17 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series, with the remainder decided in each of the six regions' respective tournaments.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifying – Women, Qualifying, Africa
The tournament was held 16–17 September 2017 in Monastir, Tunisia, with South Africa beating Kenya 17–12 to obtain the one allotted Africa slot for the World Cup.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifying – Women, Qualifying, Americas North
The qualifying Tournament, which is also Rugby Americas North Women's Sevens, took place at the Campo Marte in Mexico City, 25–26 November 2017. With Mexico having the best record, it will make its first World Cup appearance.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifying – Women, Qualifying, South America
The 2017 Torneo Valentín Martínez served as the South American qualifier, with the winner heading to the World Cup. It was held at Carrasco Polo Club in Montevideo, Uruguay on November 10-11.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifying – Women, Qualifying, South America
The format was a round robin tournament. All matches in Uruguay Standard Time (UTC−03:00)


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifying – Women, Qualifying, Asia
From 23–24 September and 14–15 October, eight teams competed in Incheon and Colombo for two world cup slots.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifying – Women, Qualifying, Europe
Twelve teams competed at the Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Grand Prix at 17–18 June 2017 in Malemort, France, then 8–9 July in Kazan, Russia.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifying – Women, Qualifying, Oceania
Eight teams competed in Suva, Fiji on 10-11 November 2017, with Australia, Fiji and New Zealand already qualified. Papua New Guinea, as the highest-ranked team not yet qualified, was eligible.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens squads – Men
The rosters of all participating teams at the men's tournament of the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens squads – Women
The rosters of all participating teams at the women's tournament of the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens squads – Women, United States
Alev Kelter was initially selected as part of the squad, but was still recovering from injuries and so was substituted with Kelsi Stockert.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens – Men's tournament
The men's tournament in the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held at AT&T Park in San Francisco. New Zealand won the tournament and took home the Melrose Cup by defeating England 33–12 in the final; South Africa won the bronze by deafeating Fiji 24—19. The tournament was dominated by the World Series core teams, which accounted for all eight of the teams that reached the quarterfinals. Ireland was the highest placed non core team in ninth, notching wins against core teams Kenya, Wales, and Australia.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens – Men's tournament
The top point scorer was Papua New Guinea's Emmanuel Guise with 37 points. The joint top try scorers were New Zealand's Joe Ravouvou and South Africa's Siviwe Soyizwapi with 6 each.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens – Men's tournament, Format
Unlike previous editions, the tournament will be played for the first time in a knock-out only format.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens – Men's tournament, Match officials
World Rugby announced a panel of ten match officials for the men's tournament.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens – Women's tournament
The women's tournament in the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held at AT&T Park in San Francisco alongside the men's tournament in which the teams competed for the Women's Rugby Sevens World Cup.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens – Women's tournament, Format
Unlike previous editions, the tournament was played for the first time in a knock-out only format.


2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens – Women's tournament, Match officials
World Rugby announced a panel of nine match officials for the women's tournament.


2018 Rushmoor Borough Council election
The 2018 Rushmoor Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2018 to elect members of Rushmoor Borough Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections.


2018 Rushmoor Borough Council election
Two seats were up for election in the West Heath ward due to the resignation of an incumbent.


2018 Russian Air Force Antonov An-26 crash
On 6 March 2018 an Antonov An-26 transport aircraft crashed on approach to Khmeimim air base in Syria, killing all 39 people on board. All of them were servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces, including Major-General Vladimir Yeremeyev.


2018 Russian Air Force Antonov An-26 crash, Aircraft
The accident aircraft was an Antonov An-26, registration RF-92955, msn 10107. It had first flown in 1980. This accident is the fifteenth An-26 fatal crash in this decade with a total of 159 deaths, none of these flights were scheduled passenger airline operations.


2018 Russian Air Force Antonov An-26 crash, Crash
At about 14:00 local time (12:00 UTC) the Russian Antonov An-26 went down about 500 metres (1,640 ft) from the runway. The preliminary cause was attributed to technical malfunction. Based on reports from the location, the Russian Ministry of Defense ruled out the possibility that it was shot down. The Investigative Committee of Russia and the Russian Military Prosecutor's Office opened criminal cases concerning the crash.


2018 Russian Air Force Antonov An-26 crash, Crash
The Islamic militant group Jaysh al-Islam later claimed the responsibility for the crash; according to Ad-Diyar, five militants shot at the aircraft with heavy machine guns when it was 100 m from the ground. It was suggested that the claim might be false, as the group has made opportunistic claims in the past, as have some other groups.


2018 Russian Air Force Antonov An-26 crash, Cause
The aircraft flew on final approach with a tail wind and was caught by windshear on final. It banked, lost height and crashed some 500 metres before the runway threshold.


2018 Russian Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 2018 Russian Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held in Kazan, Russia between 18–22 April 2018.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships
The 2018 Russian Athletics Championships was held July 19-22 at Central Stadium in Kazan. The capital of Tatarstan hosted the event for the third time, having done so previously in 2008 and 2014. Around 1000 athletes from 76 regions of the country participated in the competition. Over the course of four days, 38 events were contested.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships
For the third year in a row, the national championships did not include the selection of an international team (on this occasion, for the 2018 European Athletics Championships). This was due to the continuation Russia's ban from international athletics by the IAAF due to doping, which began in 2015. Three Russians, who competed at that competition as Authorised Neutral Athletes (Sergey Shubenkov, Anzhelika Sidorova and Danil Lysenko), chose not to compete at the national event, instead competing at the Herculis 2018 IAAF Diamond League meeting.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships
Vladimir Nikitin won the men's 1500 metres in a championship record of 3:35.85. After the collapse of the USSR, only two people showed faster results at this distance: the country's record holder Vyacheslav Shabunin and Andrei Loginov. Aleksandr Lesnoy improved his personal record to 21.58 m, bringing him to fourth among Russia's all-time men's shot putters.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships
The 2012 Olympic champion Anna Chicherova returned from her doping ban but was beaten into second place by world-leader Mariya Lasitskene.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships
Ekaterina Ivonina set a European-leading time of 9:16.68 to win the 3000 metres steeplechase. She led from start to finish and beat the silver medalist by 22 seconds.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships
Several athletes extended their list of national honours: Dmitry Tarabin won the javelin for the sixth time in a row, while hurdler Konstantin Shabanov became a six-time champion in the 110 metres hurdles.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, Championships
During 2018, Russian championships were held in various cities in individual athletics disciplines:


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, Results, Women
On October 25, 2018, the All-Russian Federation of Athletics announced a 4-year disqualification of the hammer thrower Natalia Polyakova for 4 years. Methenolone was detected in her doping test at this event. The result of the athlete in this tournament (3rd place, 66.54 m) was annulled in accordance with the rules.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, Mountain running (uphill)
The 19th Russian Mountain Running Championship (uphill) took place on March 31, 2018 in Zheleznovodsk, Stavropol Territory. The race circuit was on the slopes of Mount Beshtau. A total of 82 participants (51 men and 31 women) from 25 regions of Russia started the race. Alexey Pagnuev repeated last year's success, winning the men's race. Since 2011, for the sixth time, Alexei was in the top three of the country's uphill mountain running championship. Galina Egorova became the national champion of Russia for the seventh time in her career.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, Mountain running (uphill)
She won previous victories in the indoor 5000 metres (2007), mountain (up and down) (2010, 2011, 2017) and the uphill mountain race (2012, 2013). For the third year in a row, Anastasia Rudnaya, the world champion in orienteering, climbed the podium in the women's event. After two bronze medals, she won the silver medal, only 16 seconds behind the winner.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, Cross country (spring)
The 2018 Russian Spring Cross Country Championships were held on 28 April in Zhukovskiy, Moscow Oblast. A total of 73 runners (34 men and 39 women) from 33 regions of Russia took part in four senior races.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, Marathon
The 2018 Russian Marathon Championships was held on 30 April in Volgograd, incorporated into the city's annual marathon.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, Mountain running (uphill-downhill)
The 2018 Russian Mountain Running Championships (uphill-downhill) was the 20th edition of the competition. It was held on 6 May 2018 in Rybinsk, Yaroslavl Oblast. A total of 48 runnes (33 men and 15 women) from 17 regions started the championships.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, 24-hour run
The Russian 24-hour Championship was held on May 12–13 at the Iskra Stadium in Moscow as part of the XXVII Super Day marathon. A total of 55 athletes (40 men and 15 women) from 19 regions of Russia took the start. Nadezhda Gubareva became the youngest winner of the championship: at the time of the finish she was 22 years 240 days. The men's champion, Konstantin Chekulov, won the national championship for the first time in his career. A 60-year-old Yuriy Galkin, after two wins in 2016 and 2017, appeared on the podium for a third time. For the third year in a row, the silver medal in the women's race was won by Nadezhda Shikhanova, and the bronze medal by Anna Sidorova.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, Relay
The Russian Relay Championships was held in Smolensk on May 30–31 at the stadium of the Smolensk Academy of Physical Culture. Competitions were held simultaneously with the Russian Team Athletics Championship.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, Relay, Women
V estafete 4×1500 metrov u zhenschin uchastvovali tolko 2 komandy.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, Racewalking
The 2018 Russian Race Walking Championships was held June 9-10 in Cheboksary. The route was laid along the embankment of the Cheboksary Bay. The competition was attended by 59 athletes (33 men and 26 women) from 9 regions of the country. For the first time, a women's 50 km race took place at the Russian Championship, following the IAAF's international recognition of the event in 2016. The first champion and record holder of Russia was Klavdiya Afanasyeva.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, Racewalking
The 19-year-old Sergey Shirobokov claimed the men's title over 20 km: his result (1:17:25) made him the fourth fastest ever in Russia and the ninth in the world among adults. Elena Lashmanova exceeded the 20 km world record time by almost a minute, 1:23:39 versus 1:24:38. Her time was a new national record, but was not ratified by the IAAF as a global one due to the disqualification of the national federation due to the doping scandal and, as a result, the lack of international judges at the race.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, 10,000 metres
The 2018 Russian Championships in the 10,000 metres was held on June 30 as part of the Znamensky Brothers Memorial. Competitions were held at Meteor Stadium in the suburban town of Zhukovsky, Moscow Oblast. The races took place in the evening in warm and windless weather. A total of 44 athletes (29 men and 15 women) from 29 regions of the country started the championships. Elena Sedova defended the title of champion of the country, leading from the start. In the men's race, Vladimir Nikitin won his first national title.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, Combined events
The 2018 Russian Combined Events Championships was held on July 4–5 in Smolensk. The competition was attended by 51 athletes (28 men and 23 women) from 18 regions of the country. Competitions were held at the stadium of the Smolensk Academy of Physical Culture. Artyom Makarenko and Victoria Vaseykina won the outdoor national championship for the first time in their career. Vaseykina's victory was secured by 5743 points - the lowest winning score among for the heptathlon championship since 1992.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, Half marathon
The 2018 Russian Half Marathon Championships was held on 2 September in Yaroslavl as part of the Yaroslavl Half Marathon. The circuit was a circular 10.55 km route set in the historic part of the city. A total of 47 athletes (29 men and 18 women) from 24 regions of the country took the start.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, Half marathon
Competitions were held in warm and sunny weather. In the women's run, Irina Sergeeva took the lead from the start. Tatyana Arkhipova overtook her on the second lap of the course and won by a margin of twelve seconds. In the men's race, the top three contenders for the medals were determined after the 15th kilometer. Artem Aplachkin, who won the Russian title for the second time in his career, was the fastest in the final segment.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, 15K
The 2018 Russian 15K Championships were held on 9 September in Saransk as part of the 46th run in the memory of Peter Bolotnikov. A total of 49 athletes (31 men and 18 women) from 12 regions of the country entered the competition. 31-year-old Ilya Zmaznev for the first time in his career became national champion. Elena Nagovitsyna won the women's race, following a fourth place finish at the half marathon championship a week earlier.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, 100 km
The 2018 Russian 100 km Championships was held on 9 September in Saint Petersburg. The competition took place on Krestovsky Island on a circular track 2.5 km long under comfortable weather conditions (cloudy, up to +20 degrees). A total of 33 athletes (21 men and 12 women) from 20 regions of the country took the start.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, 100 km
The main surprise of the men's race was the withdrawal of the current champion and record holder of Russia Vasily Larkin. From the start, he stepped forward along with Vsevolod Khudyakov, after the 30th kilometer he made a successful break-away attempt and at some point had an almost minute advantage. However, after the middle of the distance, the gap began to decrease: by 60 km, the leaders again caught up, and after the 75th km, Larkin stopped running altogether. After the main competitor had vanished, Khudyakov was 17 minutes ahead of the nearest pursuer, which was more than enough to maintain the first position and win the Russian championship in the 100 km run for the third time in his career.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, 100 km
Several favorites stopped the fight in the course of the race and in the women's race. The current champion of the country Alsou Asanova came down after 57 km, the world champion Marina Zhalybina ran a little more than 30 km. In the middle of the race, the leader was Olga Ukolova, the bronze medalist of the previous year's championship. At the beginning of the second half, she was ahead of Nadezhda Gogoleva and Dina Zakharchenko, who led the fight for the victory to the finish.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, 100 km
At certain moments, Gogoleva's advantage reached almost two minutes, but by 85 km only 10 seconds remained. Zakharchenko closely approached the leader, but she did not have the strength for the final segment. Nadezhda Gogoleva became the champion of Russia for the second time in her career, Dina Zakharchenko won the silver medal, losing by less than a minute. For the second year in a row, Nadezhda Shikhanova reached the national podium in both supermarathon disciplines, 24 hours and 100 km.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, Cross country (autumn)
The 2018 Russian Autumn Cross Country Championships was held in Orenburg on 20–21 October. A total of 58 runners (38 men and 20 women) from 29 regions of Russia took part in two senior races. Competitions were held in cool weather with strong gusty wind. Alexey Vikulov added the title of the strongest on the autumn highway in Orenburg to the victory in the spring national championship in cross country.


2018 Russian Athletics Championships, Mountain running (long-distance)
The 12th Russian Championship in Long Distance Mountain Running took place on 28 October in Krasnaya Polyana, Krasnodar Territory. A total of 42 participants (30 men and 12 women) from 13 regions of Russia took part. Nadezhda Leshchinskaya won the women's run for the fourth year in a row, ahead of Nailiya Yulamanova.


2018 Russian Circuit Racing Series
The 2018 SMP Russian Circuit Racing Series was the fifth season of the Russian Circuit Racing Series, organized by SMP Racing. It is the fourth season with TCR class cars.


2018 Russian Circuit Racing Series, Teams and drivers, Touring / TCR Russian Touring Car Championship
All teams are Russian-registered. All drivers, excepting Belarusian driver Vladislav Gorlach, raced under Russian racing license.


2018 Russian Circuit Racing Series, Teams and drivers, Super Production & Touring-Light
All teams and drivers are Russian-registered. All drivers raced under Russian racing license.


2018 Russian Circuit Racing Series, Teams and drivers, National
All teams are Russian-registered. All drivers raced under Russian racing license.


2018 Russian Circuit Racing Series, Teams and drivers, National Junior
All teams and drivers are Russian-registered. All drivers raced under Russian racing license.


2018 Russian Circuit Racing Series, Calendar and results
The 2018 schedule was announced on 12 October 2017, with all events scheduled to be held in Russia.


2018 Russian Circuit Racing Series, Championship standings, Touring / TCR Russian Touring Car Championship
In the Russian Championship only pilots with a Russian racing license earn points, foreign pilots take part only in TCR Russia.


2018 Russian Circuit Racing Series, Championship standings, Touring / TCR Russian Touring Car Championship
† – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 75% of the race distance.


2018 Russian Circuit Racing Series, Championship standings, National-Junior
† – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 75% of the race distance.


2018 Russian Circuit Racing Series, Championship standings, National-Junior, National-Junior Team's Standing
† – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 75% of the race distance.


2018 Russian Cup Final
The 2018 Russian Cup Final decided the winner of the 2017–18 Russian Cup, the 26th season of Russia's main football cup. It was played on 9 May 2018 at the Volgograd Arena, between Tosno and Avangard Kursk. Tosno won the game courtesy of goals from Aleksei Skvortsov and Reziuan Mirzov, with Igor Kireyev scoring a consolation goal for the second division side.


2018 Russian Cup Final
As winners, Tosno qualified for the group stage of the UEFA Europa League and were also set to face the champions of the Russian Premier League, Lokomotiv Moscow in the 2018 Russian Super Cup held on 27 July. However, on 9 June 2018, it was announced that FC Tosno was dissolved because of financial problems and CSKA Moscow replaced them as participants in the Super Cup.


2018 Russian Cup Final, Background
This was the first Russian Cup final appearance for either side.


2018 Russian Cup Final, Background
With Tosno having only been formed in 2013, they came into the game, in their first season in the Russian Premier League, in the relegation zone.


2018 Russian Cup Final, Background
Avangard Kursk, midtable in the second division, would also have claimed their first-ever piece of silverware and have never before played in the Russian top flight.


2018 Russian Figure Skating Championships
The 2018 Russian Figure Skating Championships (Russian: Чемпионат России по фигурному катанию на коньках 2018) were held from 19 to 24 December 2017 in Saint Petersburg. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dance. The results were among the criteria used to select Russia's teams to the 2018 European Championships, 2018 Winter Olympics, and 2018 World Championships.


2018 Russian Figure Skating Championships, Competitions
In the 2017–18 season, Russian skaters will compete in domestic qualifying events and national championships for various age levels. The Russian Cup series will lead to three events – the Russian Championships, the Russian Junior Championships, and the Russian Cup Final.


2018 Russian Figure Skating Championships, Senior Championships
The senior Championships were held in Saint Petersburg from 19 to 24 December 2017. Competitors qualified through international success or by competing in the Russian Cup series' senior-level events.


2018 Russian Figure Skating Championships, Senior Championships, Entries
The Russian figure skating federation published the full list of entries on 15 December 2017.