Great British sporting moments

By Simon Wright

At 5.24pm on Sunday evening, the longest drought in British sport was finally consigned to the history books.

After 77 years of hurt, pain and close calls, Britain has a men’s singles champion at Wimbledon.  Andy Murray battled through hot temperatures on a scorching day at SW19 and the persistence of his opponent, the world number one Novak Djokovic to beat the Serbian in straight sets 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.

The reaction of Murray afterwards was one of finally achieving his dream, and he has turned it around in the last 12 months.  He had a lot of people, me included who struggled to accept him as a great tennis player.  Last year’s agonising four-set final defeat on Centre Court to Swiss master Roger Federer was the turning point.

Murray’s emotional speech after the match showed the pain he felt at losing the biggest match of his career, but since then, the man from a small town in Scotland called Dunblane has turned his career around.

He dismantled Federer just under a month later on the same court to win Olympic Gold for Team GB, before seeing off Djokovic in a five-set marathon to claim his first Grand Slam at the US Open last September. 

Despite missing the French Open through injury in May, Murray has reached the Australian Open final, won three ATP titles including the AEGON Championships at Queen’s Club, and now the biggest prize in tennis.

It is a feat that I never thought I would ever see – and over 17 million viewers tuned onto the BBC on Sunday to see history being made in London.

Sporting fans are going through a golden generation of British success.  Last year was simply unbelievable.  We had Bradley Wiggins becoming the first Brit to ever win the Tour de France, cycling’s ultimate race.  Manchester City won their first league title in over 40 years with a finish we will never see again in the Premier League, there was Chelsea finally becoming Champions of Europe in Munich and of course, the unforgettable fortnight of London 2012 – an event that truly brought sport and the nation together as we witnessed some remarkable feats.

Along with Murray, I've picked out five sporting feats that are among my favourites of all-time.

There are some that have just missed out, including Virginia Wade winning Wimbledon in 1977, Sir Steve Redgrave’s fifth Olympic Gold medal in Sydney in 2000, Liverpool’s breathtaking comeback to win the Champions League in Istanbul in 2005, and the famous Bolero dance in 1984 by Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean that won gold in Sarajevo.

England win the FIFA World Cup, 1966

This memory is way too early for me, but it is something that we will probably never see again – well unless we live in fantasy land.  That is England being football world champions.

It happened on home soil in 1966 and to make it better, West Germany were the opponents in the final.

Bobby Moore lifts the Jules Rimet trophy, England's finest football moment

Sir Geoff Hurst was the hero on the day, as he became the first player in World Cup final history to score a hat-trick.  England did lead 2-1, but were taken to extra-time before a linesman from the country of Azerbaijan declared that Hurst’s second goal did cross the line.

With the Germans pushing forward to score, gaps opened up in the defence and Hurst broke clear to complete his hat-trick, with the famous words from commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme; “And here comes Hurst, there’s some fans on the pitch, they think it’s all over.”

Alf Ramsay’s men won the game 4-2, and it was left for iconic captain Bobby Moore (pictured) to collect the Jules Rimet trophy to declare England as world champions. 

Since then, there were close calls in Italia 90 and Euro 96 for major prizes, before those darn penalties got in the way, and no-one will forget Germany 1-5 England in September 2001, but the drought of no success is set to continue for some time to come.

Rugby World Cup Glory Down Under, 2003

Getting up on a Saturday morning was never more anticipated than on Saturday, 22 November 2003.  Telstra Stadium in Sydney was the venue for the Rugby World Cup final between holders and hosts Australia and Sir Clive Woodward’s England.

England went to the finals as favourites and ranked as the number one side according to the IRB rankings.  However, they hadn’t found their best form in the tournament yet, lucky to beat Samoa in the pool stages and being outplayed but somehow winning the quarter-final with Wales.  Australia meanwhile had stunned the All Blacks to reach the final against the odds.

It was Australia who started the quickest, as Loite Tuqiri went over for the opening try inside five minutes.  Penalty goals on a blustery evening dominated a tense and nail-biting encounter, but Jason Robinson’s late try towards the end of the first half, coupled with three penalties from Jonny Wilkinson had England going in 14-5 at the interval.

Mistakes allowed the Aussies back into the game and with one minute left of normal time, Elton Flatley converted his third penalty in a row to level the scores at 14-14 and take the game into extra time.

Not much had changed after the extra 20 minutes, with sudden death approaching and the game on a knife-edge at 17-17, when Wilkinson, who had missed three earlier drop goal attempts, got his fourth attempt spot on.  With 25 seconds to go, England were back infront and held on to claim a 20-17 win and be crowned 2003 Rugby World Cup winners.

It was a momentous day, a superb feat and made English rugby the prime sport for a while in this country.  Another final has followed since, although more inconsistent form has been the story of the past decade.  However, rugby union never felt so good than it did on that November morning a decade ago.

England regain the Ashes, 2005

After 17 years of constant defeats from Australia’s legendary cricket side, England finally had a chance with a decent team of taking on the Australians in the 2005 Ashes series.  It turned out to be a momentous seven weeks for the game of cricket, as it became the most talked about sport during this period.

Australia waltzed to a convincing victory in the first test at Lord’s, with legendary bowler Glenn McGrath doing the damage, taking five wickets in his opening spell.  England fought back at Edgbaston where McGrath was ruled out through injury.  Despite the best efforts of Shane Warne, Brett Lee and Michael Kasprowicz, England won the second test by just two runs in Birmingham in one of the most thrilling games of cricket that was ever seen.

The captains took their turn to control proceedings at Old Trafford a few days later.  Michael Vaughan became the first player in the series to hit a century, before Ricky Ponting defied England’s strong bowling attack of Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard and Ashley Giles on the final day to ensure the series remained at 1-1.

At Trent Bridge, England dominated, but almost threw the match away with some sloppy shots, and tremendous bowling from Warne and Lee.  Chasing 127 to win, it was the eighth wicket partnership from Giles and Hoggard that got the home side home by three wickets to take a 2-1 series lead.

So it came to The Oval, where England only needed to avoid defeat to regain the Ashes.  Australia had to win and showed early intent, reducing England to a below-par 373, before Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer started eroding the advantage significantly.  Flintoff, who had an unbelievable series, tore through the Australian middle order on the Sunday morning to leave England six runs ahead.

Michael Vaughan lifts the urn aloft after England's 2005 triumph

Then, on 57-3 on the final day, Kevin Pietersen survived two dropped catches and a couple of run out calls to hit a maiden test century, and take the game away from Australia.  The match was drawn and England could celebrate.  There were scenes (pictured) that hadn’t been seen since the dramatic home series of 1981, but were repeated four years later with victory in the 2009 series.

England start as overwhelming favourites to win the Ashes again this summer.  The first test starts tomorrow at Trent Bridge in Nottinghamshire.

Lewis Hamilton wins the Formula One title on the last corner, 2008

The 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship was one full of action, intrigue, stunning drives and some glaring mistakes.  It came down to a final race showdown in Brazil, with Britain’s Lewis Hamilton holding a seven-point lead over the local lad Felipe Massa.

Hamilton only needed a fifth place finish in Sao Paulo to become the youngest ever champion in the sport’s history and was untroubled for much of the day, looking secure in fourth place behind Massa, Fernando Alonso’s Renault and the second Ferrari of reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen.

Then the rainclouds arrived and with five laps to go, all the top runners had to pit for intermediate tyres.  Toyota made a brave gamble and kept Timo Glock out on dry tyres, and Hamilton was now in a vulnerable position as the German slipped past whilst he was being serviced.

With three laps to go Hamilton allowed the lapped Robert Kubica to pass him, but slid wide and the Toro Rosso of Sebastian Vettel dived past into fifth place, meaning Hamilton was now out of the world championship position he needed to be in.

Massa did everything he needed to do, cruising across the line to take his sixth win of the season, and for 30 seconds or so, the Brazilian had done it.  However, the rain intensified and Glock on his dry tyres was a sitting target.  Into the final corner, both Vettel and Hamilton passed the limping Toyota, with the McLaren powering up the hill to become the 2008 Formula One World Champion.

Ferrari didn’t notice this and started celebrating, but they had got it wrong.  It was Hamilton’s ex-girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger and the McLaren mechanics who had got their calculations right.  Hamilton was champion and in the most unbelievable manner possible.  He made history on the final corner of a truly remarkable season, all of this on ITV’s final afternoon of broadcasting the sport after 12 years.

Super Saturday, 2012

There are so many memories from last summer’s Olympics and we all have our own personal favourites.  Among mine was Sir Chris Hoy’s sixth gold medal in cycling, Jade Jones winning the Taekwondo and Katie Taylor taking Ireland’s first gold for 16 years in women’s boxing.

However, none of that can topple the amazing events on Super Saturday.  Not even a predictable Team GB penalty shootout defeat in football could turn the night into a sour one.

The team had already won three gold medals in the day, two more in rowing and one in the Velodrome, but it was the events in the Olympic Stadium that were simply awe-inspiring.

First, Jessica Ennis completed her domination of the women’s heptathlon event.  Ennis took victory in the final event, the 800m to stamp her authority on the two-day competition.  The Sheffield athlete broke her own British heptathlon record for points, and finished over 300 points clear of her nearest rival.  After the injury pain of missing out on Beijing in 2008, Ennis had shown to the world that she was the best all-round athlete.

Moments later, Greg Rutherford from Bletchley in Milton Keynes leapt 8.31m to extend his lead in the men’s long jump final.  No-one else got close and after his own injury nightmares of previous years, Rutherford had pulled off an unexpected but no less deserved gold medal.  He became the first Brit to win the long jump competition since Lyn Jarvis in Oslo in 1964.

Then, it was the turn of Mo Farah to take the limelight.  Against a top field of Ethiopian and Kenyan athletes, Farah showed them up with a brilliant tactical run, before kicking twice on the final lap to pull clear of the field and win the men’s 10,000m.  The stadium went crazy and Team GB had just won three gold medals in the space of half an hour.  It was undoubtedly the best night in British athletics history, and quite possibly, the greatest moment in British sporting history.

Those five moments, together now with Andy Murray’s glory at Wimbledon are my personal favourites.  I’m sure we will see many more great British sporting moments in the coming years, but for now, let’s enjoy and bask in recent glories and accept that at the moment, Great British sport is in a happy and very successful place.

Categories: Andy Murray, Ashes, Australia, Britain, England, Jessica Ennis, Jonny Wilkinson, Lewis Hamilton, Rugby World Cup, Scotland, Sir Geoff Hurst, Sport, Team GB, Wimbledon, World Cup

2012 - A year in review - The Olympics & Paralympics

By Simon Wright

The Olympics were everything and more in London

This year has been the greatest sporting year in history and it has been a real privilege to watch it all unfold over the past 12 months.

We were introduced to plenty of new heroes, some of the most sensational finishes you could ask for, the giant-killing surprises and pure emotion. 

The main event has been the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games, and here is my review of the spectacular events.

The Olympics totally delivers

Could debt-ridden Britain afford the Olympic Games?  Probably not but it was certainly worth it.  Team GB’s success on the track, in the velodrome and rowing amongst others went down in folklore. 

In total, we won 29 gold medals and finished a magnificent third in the medal table, only behind the world superpowers of the United States and China.

After the Beijing brilliance of 2008, there was scepticism before the games began, most notably when it emerged less than two weeks before the show, there had been a real muddle over security measures.  The brilliant military had to step in and did the job impeccably. 

The Olympic Torch Relay dismissed many of these fears though, and Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony was a joy to watch.  London showed itself to the world, full of colour, tradition and modernity.

Having Mr Bean in the opening ceremony was a brilliant idea

From the Queen and James Bond to Mr. Bean, some people might have wondered if Britain was totally bonkers.  However, we did it and in our own unique way possible.

When the action began, it started slowly for Team GB.  There were no gold medals in the first four days of competition. 

Lizzie Armitstead got silver in the women’s cycling road race and there was a historic bronze in the men’s team gymnastics final, but there was concern, particularly with the form of our swimmers.

It was at Eton Dorney when the gold rush finally kicked off on day five.  Heather Stanning and Helen Glover delivered gold in the coxless pairs and from there on, we didn’t look back.

Bradley Wiggins followed a few hours later, with a dominant victory in the men’s cycling time trial.  The next day, the British achieved gold and silver in a dramatic men’s canoe slalom final and minutes later, there was an emotional and unexpected gold medal for Peter Wilson in the Men’s Double Trap Shooting.

Wilson had his funding cut after Beijing, and it was the backing of a rich Arab Sheikh that saw him realise his dream.  Realising dreams also was Gemma Gibbons, who collected a popular silver medal in the judo, then left us with one of the most iconic pictures of the games. She pointed to the sky, saying ‘I love you Mum,’ in memory of her mother, who passed away eight years ago.

Team GB’s women’s footballers improved the profile of their game.  70,000 saw Hope Powell’s side beat Brazil at Wembley Stadium, with Steph Houghton becoming an overnight sensation, scoring in all three group games.  Quarter-final heartbreak would follow against Canada but they credited themselves magnificently.

The gold rush continues

The gold medals continued.  Katherine Grainger finally reached the pinnacle when she doubled up with Anna Watkins to win the Women’s Double Sculls at Eton Dorney – after three successive and agonising silver medals.

Andy Murray was too good for Roger Federer in the men's singles

Andy Murray dismantled Roger Federer in the Men’s Singles Final at Wimbledon, losing just seven games at SW19, writing the wrongs of his painful Wimbledon loss less than a month earlier.

Ben Ainslie became the most successful sailor in Olympic history, as he won his fourth gold medal at Weymouth, and Welsh teenage kicking sensation Jade Jones became Olympic champion in Taekwondo.

Of course, there were disappointments along the way.  Smart tactics from the rest of the field meant Mark Cavendish’s dreams of winning a medal disappeared in the men’s cycling road race.

The swimming team were a major letdown.  Michael Jamieson did get silver and there was double bronze for Beijing golden girl Rebecca Adlington, but targets were not met at the Aquatics Centre.

Phillips Idowu wandered into the Olympic village with an injury he wanted to keep secret.  The Hackney local made a tame exit from the qualifying rounds of the men’s triple jump – his creditability shattered. 

Team GB’s male footballers spectacularly failed on the big stage.  Despite winning their group, they lacked conviction and predictably exited via a quarter-final penalty shootout to South Korea in Cardiff.  Daniel Sturridge can add his name to those queuing up for fame for a pizza chain commercial! 

However, there were more success stories than failures, and they came in 45 glorious minutes on Saturday, 4 August.

Super Saturday

Team GB had already racked up another two gold medals and one silver in the final day of rowing competition, and another gold medal in the velodrome. 

Jessica Ennis showed she was the best all-round athlete

Then, it went crazy in the Olympic Stadium.  First, the poster girl of the Olympic Games, Jessica Ennis stormed to victory in the 800m, the final event of the women’s heptathlon. 

Ennis had started a day earlier, with the fastest time ever by a heptathlon athlete in the 100m hurdles, one of her favourite events.  She achieved lifetime bests in the javelin and long jump, and Sheffield’s star finished it off in fitting fashion on the Saturday evening.

She had realised her dream after the injury heartache of four years ago.  Meanwhile, another athlete who had his injury issues over many years was finally delivering on his promise in the jumping pit.

Step forward Greg Rutherford from Bletchley in Milton Keynes.  He produced a jump of 8m 31 to win gold in the men’s long jump.  There was immense pride as a local lad to MK, and sheer delight for a crowd that were witnessing a very special evening.

The 'Mobot' became a big hit with many.

Then, it was back to the track for the final of the men’s 10,000m.  Mo Farah, withstanding the pressure from the Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes, took the gold medal.  The place erupted on an extraordinary evening.

If that wasn’t enough for Farah – he returned a week later to achieve the long-distance double, winning the 5000m title too.

What a night – the greatest in the history of British sport.

World feats

Of course, the Olympic Games were not just about the British.

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt was doubted by many before arriving in London, with the man himself claiming only to be ’95 per cent fit.’

He retained all of his Olympic titles – becoming the first sprinter to ever achieve this.

On ‘Super Sunday,’ he won the men’s 100m in 9.63secs in a new Olympic record, holding off compatriot and world champion Yohan Blake, and the American trio of Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay and Ryan Bailey.

Four days later, Bolt was back to defend his 200m title, again seeing off Blake in a Jamaican 1-2-3.  Lastly, to conclude the events in the Olympic Stadium – he anchored the Jamaican team to the 4x100m title, smashing their own world record in the process.

The American team did this in the women’s equivalent, breaking the last ever record held by East Germany.  Allyson Felix won three gold medals and Carmelita Jeter got two gold’s and one silver for her efforts.

Kenyan David Rudisha destroyed the competition in the men’s 800m, taking the first world record of the games in the Olympic Stadium.  Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic found some unexpected form to triumph in the men’s 400m hurdles – then he broke down in floods of tears on the rostrum.

Kirani James produced Grenada’s first ever Olympic gold in the men’s 400m, a feat also achieved by Lithuania as they won their first Olympic gold in the swimming pool, courtesy of Ruta Meilutyte.

The US retained the women’s football title and Mexico stunned Brazil to take the gold medal in the men’s football.  Brazil coach Mano Menezes would end the year unemployed.

Serena Williams dismantled Maria Sharapova to win women’s tennis gold and ultimately, America would end up top of the medal table with various successes across the UK.

Most of it arrived in the swimming pool.  The world saw the likes of Missy Franklin, Rebecca Soni and Katie Ledecky set new world records and even higher standards.  Ryan Lochte had his moments too, but there was only one Olympian who stole the show in the Aquatics Centre.

London 2012 started in shaky fashion for Michael Phelps.  He finished fourth in the men’s 400m individual medley, and was part of the 4x100m relay team that were beaten by an inspired French squad.

Then, he was edged into silver by South African Chad le Clos in the 200m butterfly, making Chad’s Dad an overnight internet phenomenon from his BBC interview with presenter Claire Balding. 

We won't see the likes of Michael Phelps again in sport

Phelps’s silver did though equal the tally of 18 medals overall at the Olympics, previously held by Larisa Latynina.  An hour later, Phelps made it 19 when he won his first gold in the games – winning the 4x200m relay.

Three more gold medals followed, meaning he bowed out of the Olympics and swimming with 22 Olympic medals – 18 of them being gold.

It is safe to say that we will never see the likes of Michael Phelps again in sport.

The medal factory at the velodrome

While British success in the pool was limited, the cycling velodrome has become the medal factory in recent Olympics.

After effectively whitewashing the field in Beijing four years ago, the track cycling governing body UCI, decided to crack down on such dominance, and insist that each country had just one entry per event in the track cycling.

If they thought that they had done the right thing to stop supremacy, then they were to be seriously mistaken.

Laura Trott and Jason Kenny took double gold, as Team GB stormed the main prizes once again.

However, it would be the feat of two of Britain’s cycling legends that took the accolades.

Victoria Pendleton made a messy start, after an illegal changeover which was her fault, saw her and Jess Varnish disqualified from the women’s team sprint.

She recovered 24 hours later to win the first ever women’s keirin, but had to settle for silver in her final event, beaten by great rival, Australia’s Anna Meares in the individual sprint.

Sir Chris Hoy became the most successful British Olympian and in style

While Pendleton didn’t quite finish in style, Sir Chris Hoy certainly did.  Together with Kenny and Philip Hindes – he won his fifth Olympic gold in the men’s team sprint. 

He then returned to win the men’s keirin and overtake Sir Steve Redgrave, to become the most successful British Olympian of all-time, with six gold medals.  While Pendleton has retired totally – Hoy still might go on to the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, but won’t be back for Rio in 2016.

Overall, Team GB won eight gold’s, two silvers and two bronzes.  Wiggins won BBC Sports Personality of the Year and Dave Brailsford was Coach of the Year.

As cycling eras ended, the Olympics closed with some history in the boxing ring.

There were gold medals for Luke Campbell and Anthony Ogogo, while Katie Taylor became Ireland’s first gold medallist at the Olympics since 1996.

And Nicola Adams made her own history too – becoming the first ever champion in women’s boxing at the Olympics, which was introduced this year.

Let’s not forget either a bronze for Tom Daley in diving or Charlotte Dujardin taking double gold in a very successful equestrian team.

The Olympics definitely inspired a generation, and there was more to come from the Paralympics a few weeks later.

Paralympic joy

It was time for the superheroes to perform on the main global stage and they didn’t disappoint.

Team GB came third in this medal table too, achieving 34 gold’s, 43 silvers and 43 bronze medals.  It was one place below from four years ago, but crucially it was their biggest ever medal tally at a Paralympics.

The best feats belonged to David Weir, Ellie Simmonds and Sarah Storey.

Storey won Britain’s first paralympic gold of London 2012, taking the honours in the women’s individual C5 pursuit race.

Three more gold medals followed at Brands Hatch in Kent, including the 500m time trial C4-5 and the individual road race C4-5.  She equalled the tally of the most Paralympic gold’s of all-time by a British athlete in the process.

Weir matched Storey’s total of four gold medals in London, and he did his work on the athletics track.

Competing in a wheelchair, he retained his 1500m title in the T54 category, and also triumphed in the 800m, 5000m and the marathon. 

Ellie Simmonds was one of the stars in the Paralympics

In the S6 swimming disability category, 18-year-old Simmonds won two gold medals, in the 400m freestyle and the 200m individual medley – taking two world records in the process.  She won four medals overall at the Aquatics Centre.

On a worldwide scale, South African Oscar Pistorius became the first ‘abled’ athlete to compete in both the Olympics and the Paralympics.  He left London with two gold medals, a silver medal and many more friends.

Italian Alessandro Zanardi produced one of the miracle stories of the year.  11 years after losing both his legs in a racing crash driving in Germany, the former Formula One driver won two gold medals in the Hand bike category. 

He took the honours in the individual time trial and road race, and one relay silver medal.  He is a true inspiration to any athlete taking part in the Olympics or the Paralympics.

What an unbelievable summer it was and it will never be forgotten.  The greatest show on earth absolutely delivered.

Categories: Andy Murray, Ben Ainslie, Bradley Wiggins, Danny Boyle, Greg Rutherford, Jade Jones, Jessica Ennis, Katherine Grainger, London, Mo Farah, Olympics, Paralympics, Peter Wilson, Steph Houghton, Team GB, Usain Bolt