The 100 Best Sports Photos of 2009 - (Part 3 of 4) - Big Shots

The 100 Best Sports Photos of 2009 - (Part 3 of 4)

Welcome to Part 3 of my 100 favorite sports pictures of the year. Missed the first two parts? Check out the links at the bottom of the page. And check back next Thursday for the final segment. Part 3 represents the months of July, August, and September, and was the hardest so far to edit. There was just so much good work. What's your favorite so far? ( 25 photos total)

An underwater image shows the Japanese team competing in the synchronized team free preliminaries July 24 at the FINA World Swimming Championships in Rome. (FRANCOIS XAVIER MARIT/AFP/Getty Images)

Eric Geiselman takes to the air during a practice run prior to competing in the US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach, Calif. July 24. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel) #

Brazil's Ricardo Campello falls after going airborne during the wave sailing competition at the Gran Canaria PWA Grand Slam at Pozo Izquierdo beach in the Canary Islands July 17. (REUTERS/Borja Suarez) #

Australia's Caitlin Blaauw competes in the women's wakeboard competition at the World Games in Kaohsiung, Taiwan July 22. The World Games drew more than 4,700 athletes from across the globe to compete in 31 sports not included in the Olympics. (SAM YEH/AFP/Getty Images) #

The White Loving Dragonfly team performs during the Flugtag Russia 2009 on the outskirts of Moscow August 9. Enthusiasts competed to fly the longest distance in self-made aircraft. (REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin) #

Triple amputee Jake Speed rides a wave during Operation Restoration IV August 15 in Pismo Beach, an event hosted by The Association of Amputee Surfers, an organzation helping wounded soldiers and civilians to learn adaptive surfing. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) #

Hayley McGregory competes in the women's 200m backstroke preliminary heats during the 2009 National Championships & World Championship Trials July 10 at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) #

An athlete exits the water after finishing the 1.2 mile swim in the Vineman Ironman 70.3 July 19 in Santa Rosa, Calif. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) #

A surfer makes his way across the rocks during the Relentless Boardmasters surfing feastival August 5 in Newquay, England. (Clive Rose/Getty Images) #

BASE jumpers leap from an alpine cliff in the Lauterbrunnen Valley in Bernese Oberland, Switzerland August 13. (REUTERS/Pascal Lauener) #

Freddy Nock balances on the cable car ropeway in the Alps on Germany's highest mountain, Zugspitze, August 30 near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. (Alexandra Beier/Bongarts/Getty Images) #

Afghan boys play cricket in the Pesh valley in Kunar Province August 14. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria) #

A participant in the fashion show throws a ball during the Mudflat Olympic Games August 30 in Brunsbuttel, Germany. (Krafft Angerer/Bongarts/Getty Images) #

Players compete in the Swamp Soccer World Championships in Hyrynsalmi, Finland July 17, 2009. A natural swamp outside the town of Hyrynsalmi was converted into 22 playing fields for 325 teams, made up of almost 5000 players from Finland, Norway, Russia, Germany, France and The Netherlands. (REUTERS/Vesa Moilanen /Lehtikuva Finland) #

A competitor takes part in the World Bog Snorkelling Championships held at Waen Rhydd Bog August 31 in Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images) #

Marie-Helene Premont pauses during the women's UCI Mountain Bike World Cup cross-country competition at Mount Ste-Anne in Beaupre, Canada July 26. (REUTERS/Mathieu Belanger) #

Qin Kai of China competes in the men's 1m springboard diving final at the World Championships in Rome July 17. (REUTERS/Max Rossi) #

Panagiotis Gionis of Greece focuses on the ball during the his match against Ron Davidovich of Israel during the Table Tennis European Championships in Stuttgart September 17. (AP Photo/Daniel Maurer) #

A schoolgirl wrestles with Taiichiro Tashima during a beach sumo promotional event in Tokyo 23. (AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa) #

Kertus Davis climbs out of his car after it catches fire during the NASCAR Nationwide Series Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona International Speedway July 3 in Daytona Beach. (John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR) #

Pedro Lamy drives during practice for the American Le Mans Series Petit Le Mans September 24 at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia (Chris Graythen/Getty Images) #

Chris Klebl of the US competes in the International Paralympic Committee LW10-12 5km cross country skiing during the Winter Games NZ at the Snow Farm August 25 in Wanaka, New Zealand. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images) #

A man on a horse rides with the peloton during the 12th stage of the Tour of Spain "La Vuelta" cycling race between Almeria and Alto de Velefique September 11. (REUTERS/Miguel Vidal) #

33,996 people attempt to break the world record for the largest number practising tai ji quan outside the National Olympic Stadium August 8 in Beijing. (Feng Li/Getty Images) #

Monks play volleyball at Rabdey Dratsang in Samdrup Jongkhar in Bhutan September 3. Five decades ago, Bhutan was a feudal, medieval place with no roads, proper schools or hospitals and scarcely any contact with the outside world. Today education and healthcare are free and life expectancy has risen to 66 years from less than 40. (REUTERS/Singye Wangchuk) #