By Simon Wright
The
sporting year of 2012 was dominated by the Olympics and Paralympics in London, but that doesn’t mean it was a quiet year elsewhere. Far from it, as there was plenty of intrigue
and drama all the way.
Cycling
saw history made and legends disgraced, tennis allowed records to be broken and
new challengers to emerge, football produced one of the most sensational
finishes to any season, while horse racing had another year of triumph and
tragedy.
It
was a mixed bag for cricket, minor miracles emerged in golf and Formula One
produced another thrilling showdown.
So, here is the sporting review of 2012, excluding the Olympic
highlights.
It’s Wiggo time
Cycling
has rarely been out of the headlines in 2012.
Thankfully, most of the stories were of a positive nature.
 |
| Bradley Wiggins made history in the Tour de France |
The
country fell in love with Bradley Wiggins and his sideburns. He might have won Olympic gold and BBC Sports
Personality of the Year, but his main feat arrived just days before the London
extraganvanza.
He
won the Tour de France, cycling’s most difficult race to win. He crossed the finish line with the yellow
jersey in Paris, to become the first Brit to win the race since its inception
in 1903.
British
team-mate Chris Froome backed him up by finishing second, while Mark Cavendish
did his bit for Team Sky too and won the final stage for the fourth year
running.
Cavendish
has quit Team Sky since, but the future looks bright for the team, as they have
snapped up youngster Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, who was winner of the Tour of Britain
in September.
On
the track and a sign of Team GB’s Olympic dominance shone through at the World
Championships in Melbourne.
Sir
Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton, Ben Swift and Laura Trott all won gold and broke
world records in the process.
While
Wiggo fever hit Britain, Lance Armstrong’s reputation is in complete tatters.
Armstrong’s
record seven Tour de France titles were annulled from the history books, after
doping allegations were upheld and made public.
He
was one of sport’s most inspired figures a while ago. Now he goes down as the biggest cheat in
sporting history.
Murray comes of age
In
tennis, the year saw some surprises and a big breakthrough for Britain.
In
the women’s game, Victoria Azarenka finally fulfilled her potential with
victory in the Australian Open.
The
flamboyant Maria Sharapova was the Queen of Clay at Roland Garros. The Russian completed her set of Grand Slam
titles and became world number one for a brief period.
Ultimately
though, it was Serena Williams who stole the limelight once again. After overcoming some serious health issues
in the last two years, the American won her fifth Wimbledon title, defeating a
brave Agnieszka Radwanska challenge in the final.
She
then went on to win the Olympics, the US Open and the WTA Championships at the
end of the season.
It
was a good year for the British female players too. Laura Robson reached round four at the US
Open, beating the retiring Kim Clijsters along the way, and Heather Watson
became the first British female player to win a singles title in 27 years, as
she won the Japan Open.
2012
though was the year that saw Andy Murray coming of age. The year started inconsistently, with defeat
to David Ferrer in the French Open quarter-finals, then an embarrassing first-round
exit from the AEGON Championships at Queen’s Club.
However
he bounced back at Wimbledon and in some fashion. Murray became the first British male player
to reach the final in 76 years. He came up short in the final, going down in four sets to
Roger Federer, but his emotional speech after the agonising loss at SW19 won
him the hearts of the nation.
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| British drought in tennis ended with Andy Murray's US Open victory |
Murray
used his Wimbledon heartbreak as a motivation to not be the nearly man once
again. He thrashed Federer in the
Olympics final, and in the early hours of a Tuesday morning in early September,
he overcame Novak Djokovic in five brutal sets to win the US Open.
He
ended the drought at Flushing Meadows, becoming Britain’s first Grand Slam
winner since Fred Perry back in 1936.
The foundations have been set for a bright future.
Federer
won his seventh Wimbledon title and broke the record for most weeks at number
one, as the Swiss Master showed once again that he can still do it at this
level.
Djokovic
won the Australian Open and the ATP Tour Finals event at the 02 Arena. The Serbian ends the year as number one, and
although he was more vulnerable in 2012, he is still probably the best in the game
at the moment.
Former
Grand Slam winners Juan Carlos Ferrero and Andy Roddick both called it a day
and Rafael Nadal might have to join them.
He did win his seventh French Open title, but an early exit at SW19 in
round two against Lukas Rusol and persistent knee trouble mean he hasn’t played
since the summer.
His
career is firmly in the balance and if he doesn’t come back, it will be a real
shame as tennis is currently in a golden period. It is pleasing to say that Murray is now
firmly in the battle to be the best in the world.
The miracle of
Medinah
Golf
has often been accused to be a very boring and pedantic sport but that wasn’t
the case in 2012.
In
the major tournaments, Bubba Watson held off the challenge of South African
Louis Oosthuizen to win in a play-off at the US Masters at Augusta, while Webb
Simpson won his maiden title at the US Open in San Francisco.
At
the Open Championship in July, it was Ernie Els who delivered the goods. The veteran seized on an opportunity to take
his second Open title, a decade on from his last major success.
It
had been Adam Scott’s tournament to lose, but he did a ‘Van der Velde’ from 1999
and bogeyed the last four holes – handing Els the coveted Claret Jug.
The
golfer of the year was definitely Rory McIlroy.
The Northern Irishman stormed to his second major championship in
August, blitzing the field at Kiawah Island to win the US PGA Championship by
eight strokes.
He
ended the year with the most prize money and top of both the European and US
rankings.
So it was on to the Ryder Cup and what turned out to be the ‘Miracle of
Medinah.’ The American team were in
complete control on the first two days and opened up a handsome 10-4 lead at
one point.
However
the heroics of Ian Poulter, Justin Rose and McIlroy allowed Europe to stay in
the contest. On the final day, trailing
10-6 – they produced one of the greatest sporting comebacks in history to dominate the singles and retain the Ryder Cup 14½-13½.
Some
inspired performances and a great team unit, organised by captain Jose Maria
Olazabal had delivered. This has gone
down as one of Europe’s greatest ever team performances.
Aguero wins it at the
last
Sunday,
13 May 2012 and one city was divided – with the destiny of the 2011-12 Premier
League title firmly in the balance.
Manchester
United had been eight points clear at one point, but Manchester City closed
them down – beat them in the Manchester derby in late April and held the
advantage going into what looked like would be a routine final day.
Wayne
Rooney’s early goal won the Red Devils their match at Sunderland. As ever, City looked to have made a meal of
it.
They
led relegation threatened QPR 1-0, but second half goals from Djibril Cisse and
Jamie Mackie allowed the visitors to take a 2-1 lead, despite having just 10
men on the field.
The
Citizens fans looked shocked but Edin Dzeko rekindled hope in stoppage time,
heading in an equaliser.
As
the final whistle blew on Wearside, United were champions again but they were
still playing at the Etihad.
Mario
Balotelli found Sergio Aguero, who drilled his shot inside Paddy Kenny’s near
post to seal City the title in the most unbelievable fashion. It was their first title in 44 years, won on
goal difference and confirmed their place as one of the superpowers of the
English game.
Chelsea
produced their usual habit of sacking managers.
They started 2012 with Andre Villas-Boas in charge, and ended it with
Rafa Benitez at the helm.
In
between though, interim manager Roberto Di Matteo produced his own minor
miracle. They beat Liverpool 2-1 to win
the FA Cup final, then a fortnight later – went to Munich to take on Bayern in
the Champions League final.
 |
| Drogba inspired Chelsea to an unlikely Champions League triumph |
Trailing
1-0 with three minutes to go, Didier Drogba thumped a header home in his last
game for the club. Petr Cech saved a
penalty from Arjen Robben in extra-time, then from Ivica Olic in the penalty
shootout itself.
Bastian
Schweinsteiger hit the post, before Drogba’s final kick for the west Londoners
took them to the promise land. Roman
Abramovich’s dream had finally been realised – they were Champions of Europe at
last.
Di
Matteo was appointed full-time boss in the summer, but was dismissed harshly in November and
the Blues are already out of this season’s Champions League edition.
Liverpool
won the League Cup in February on penalties but Kenny Dalglish still lost his
job and was replaced by Brendan Rodgers.
The Reds fans though were delighted in September, when the findings of
an independent panel revealed the full truth about the Hillsborough disaster of
1989.
The
first verdicts in the inquests of 1991 were quashed recently in the High Court
and the families of the 96 who never came home can start to think about finally
getting justice.
The
John Terry racism storm continued in 2012.
The FA removed the England captaincy from Terry in February, prompting
Fabio Capello to quit as Three Lions boss.
Terry
went on to play at the European Championships in the summer, and was cleared in
a court of law – but charged by the FA for racist abuse. He retired from international football in
September and was banned for four games, his reputation as an individual completely destroyed.
Despite
Harry Redknapp being the fans choice, the FA went for Roy Hodgson as the next
man to lead England. He took them to
Euro 2012, this time with low expectations.
England
won their group in Poland/Ukraine, but suffered the familiar exit – this time
at the hands of Italy in a quarter-final penalty shootout.
Spain
were once again the class of the international scene. They thrashed the Italians 4-0 in the Kiev
showpiece to retain the trophy. The
frustrating Fernando Torres ended as Golden Boot winner.
Pep
Guardiola quit Barcelona in April and they lost their La Liga crown to Jose
Mourinho’s Real Madrid. Current boss
Tito Vilanova is unbeaten so far domestically, but in hospital undergoing
treatment after a cancer relapse.
However,
it was another stunning year for Lionel Messi.
He has scored 91 goals across the calendar year – breaking Gerd
Mueller’s 40-year record in the process.
Celtic
won the SPL title and famously beat Barcelona in the Champions League group
stages in November. Glasgow rivals
Rangers went bust though financially, and have had to start again in the fourth
tier of Scottish football. Hearts won
the Scottish Cup, but also could face financial ruin.
Lastly,
the world of football came together in March to support Fabrice Muamba. The Bolton Wanderers midfielder collapsed in
the 41st minute of an FA Cup quarter-final at Tottenham.
His heart stopped beating for over an hour, and he was giving emergency CPR on the pitch at White Hart Lane, infront of
35,000 spectators and millions of TV viewers.
Incredibly,
Muamba survived and although he had to retire from football in August on
medical grounds, his story is probably the miracle of the year, and showed that
football can unite as one game, despite the constant fighting battle against
racism.
An Indian winter
It
hasn’t been the greatest year for English cricket but it did end on a high.
Andrew
Strauss started the year as captain but their number one test ranking was put
under threat after losing 3-0 to Pakistan away, before grinding out a drawn
series in Sri Lanka.
The
West Indies were comfortably dispatched 2-0 in May, but South Africa outclassed the home side in the summer. They clinched a 2-0
series win at Lord’s to become the number one test side.
The
build-up to the final test was dominated by Kevin Pietersen’s ridiculous
involvement in a series of ill-exchange texts and tweets with South African
cricketers – criticising Strauss and Andy Flower.
Pietersen
was suspended from the test side and although he has since returned, he is
another individual who will probably want to forget 2012 ever existed.
Strauss
retired from all forms of test cricket and was replaced by Alastair Cook, who
has guided England to a fantastic 2-1 series victory in India, the first away
test series victory for an English side in India since 1985-86.
England
did also lose their World Twenty20 crown, beaten in the Super Eight stage. Hosts Sri Lanka reached the final but were
defeated by the West Indies.
The
game also said goodbye to Australian cricket legend Ricky Ponting, who retired
after the Aussies lost a test series at home to South Africa in November.
On
a domestic scale, Hampshire won the CB40 and Twenty20 finals, whilst
Warwickshire became County Championship winners.
Vettel does it again
The
2012 Formula One world championship was the most thrilling of all-time. There were seven different winners in the
first seven races but after all that unpredictability; there was a familiar
final outcome.
Red
Bull’s Sebastian Vettel became the youngest ever triple world champion, clinching the title at the final race in Brazil in late November.
Vettel
was spun around on the first lap, but recovered brilliantly to finish sixth and
pip Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso to the crown by just three points.
Alonso
was magnanimous in defeat. He drove like
a champion all year, winning three times and getting the absolute maximum out
of a Ferrari that had no right to be in the championship reckoning.
It
was a testing season for the British drivers.
Lewis Hamilton did win four races and Jenson Button triumphed three
times, but reliability issues and accidents blighted McLaren’s title
challenge.
Hamilton’s
relationship with McLaren was damaged beyond repair in September, when he
shocked the paddock by tweeting confidential telemetry data to his millions of
Twitter followers in the run-up to the Belgian Grand Prix.
A
few weeks later, he announced he was joining Mercedes for 2013, with Michael
Schumacher heading into retirement for a second time after an unsuccessful
comeback.
Pastor Maldonado won Williams first race in eight years in Barcelona but
celebrations turned to horror when a fire in the garage erupted. Luckily, no-one was seriously injured. It was the same at Spa, when Romain
Grosjean’s dangerous driving off the start saw him nearly decapitate Alonso’s
head and become the first driver to be banned in 18 years.
Dario Franchitti won another Indy 500 in America but it was young
Australian Ryan Hunter-Reay who took the IndyCar title. Scotland’s Gordon Shedden claimed the honours
in the British Touring Car Championship and it was Newmarket’s Rob Huff who
became World Touring Car Champion.
On two wheels, Max Biaggi triumphed in World Superbikes before going
into retirement at the age of 41. Casey
Stoner also quit at the end of the MotoGP season, but the Honda man broke his
ankle in Indianapolis and wasn’t a factor in the title reckoning.
There were two podiums for Britain’s Cal
Crutchlow and a battle for the title between two Spaniards. Despite some stunning consistency, Dani
Pedrosa lost out on the prize to Jorge Lorenzo, who became champion for the
second time in three years.
Triumph and
tragedy in horse racing
2012 in horse racing produced its usual share of controversy and drama,
with a mixture of triumph and tragedy.
The greatest flat horse of all-time retired undefeated. Frankel won all 14 races he took part in,
while in the jumping game, Kauto Star was also retired after winning a record
fifth King George VI.
The Cheltenham Gold Cup was won by Synchronised and AP McCoy, but
tragedy would strike Jonjo O’Neill’s horse less than a month later.
After delaying the start of the John Smith’s Grand National,
Synchronised was put down after breaking a leg following a fall in the world’s
greatest steeplechase.
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| Neptune Collonges (left pictured) won a very close Grand National |
The race itself had to be decided on a photo-finish, eventually given to
the 33-1 shot Neptune Collonges, trained by Paul Nicholls. It was the closest ever national finish at
Aintree, but the deaths of Synchronised and another horse has put the future of
the race in long-term jeopardy.
Frankie Dettori also took a
massive fall from grace in 2012. He failed a
drugs test in France and was given a six-month ban.
The rest of
sport in 2012
Despite playing the best rugby league in England and winning top of the league standings, Wigan Warriors ended the year with nothing.
It was Leeds Rhinos who once again led the way, winning their sixth
Super League crown. They defeated
Warrington Wolves at Old Trafford 26-18 in the final, getting some revenge for
Warrington’s own Challenge Cup final victory in August.
Bradford Bulls were saved by a local consortium after being placed into
administration, with Salford City Reds the latest club to face a winding-up
order. The short-term future of the
rugby league game in this country isn’t looking rosy.
It isn’t either in rugby union, but that is more down to the form side
of things. In the spring, Wales
maintained their momentum from the Rugby World Cup, to take their third Grand
Slam in eight years in the Six Nations.
However come autumn, they suffered seven successive losses and dropped
out of the IRB top eight rankings.
English rugby has had a quieter year after the disaster of 2011, but
Stuart Lancaster’s side did record a tremendous autumn international success
over world champions New Zealand.
Leinster made it three Heineken Cup titles in four years and it was
Harlequins who were the kings in the AVIVA Premiership, as they beat Leicester
Tigers 30-23 in the May final at Twickenham.
The University Boat Race in March was ruined by a protestor swimming
down the Thames. He was arrested, but a
further clash between the two crews meant that Cambridge’s victory will forever
be tainted.
Ronnie O’Sullivan won the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible,
beating Ali Carter in the final, before taking a sabbatical from the game. Stephen Hendry retired for good.
And the sporting world paid sad goodbyes to the likes of Sid Waddell,
Mitchell Cole, Lee Richardson, Gary Ablett, Angelo Dundee, David Tait, Danny
Fullbrook, Brian Woolnough, Jack Taylor, John Bond, Tom Maynard, Professor Sid
Watkins and Dave Sexton.
The 2012 sporting year has been truly remarkable. 2013 promises much again but will do well to
beat this year’s excitement.
