Athlete of the Week

The start of a series to showcase the outstanding athlete of the week, from my eyes. It will take into account big moments, any records achieved, or just sheer performance that was incredible.

These are the ones who go out every week, in whatever sport they represent, and deserve to be showcased for their hard work and achievements. They may create a new fan who was in awe of the performance, create an opportunity for themselves, or just in general deserve the credit they are due. As hundreds of games are played across all these sports, there will always be a few honourable mentions that deserve it too. However, there can be only one FME Athlete of the Week.

Honourable mentions

BOXING

Ryan Garcia

Conor Benn came into the fight with a lot of buzz and hype off the back of his brilliant, and heavily contextualised, fight against Chris Eubank Jr. It showed his character, and he deserves credit for that alone. But Ryan Garcia showed there are levels to boxing. Dispatching Benn by round two is seriously impressive, and he is fast. From the moment he showed his quality, he did not let up. He smelt blood and finished it.

FOOTBALL

Kobbie Mainoo

This guy has taken the leap that many youngsters fail to make. It may be controversial to include him given he lost the derby, but he won his individual matchups. Against a completely different level of opposition he was unplayable, and in the derby itself he was up against two players who cost just under £250 million between them. On that evidence, Mainoo is closer to £200 million on his own. His touch is unbelievable, and he can turn it on in an instant. If that shot goes in rather than hitting the post, this could be a very different conversation.

TENNIS

Ben Shelton

This one can be confusing considering he did not win the major, but it was unlikely he would even be there. His match against Alcaraz is the one that does it for him: beating a player of that quality, coming off a long injury lay off or not, is no easy feat. It became the latest match to finish in US Open history, ending at 3:33am after four hours and twenty eight gruelling minutes, then he followed it up forty eight hours later with a semi final win. That is his first major final. It deserves recognition, and reaching it in his home tournament is an added bonus. He will be back from this, and tennis needs him to be.

A new athlete of the week, every week.

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