THE world of sport has had to deal with a lot of aspects in 2011. We said goodbye to some stars at their prime and other legends who had made their mark. There were shocks, sensational returns to form and superstars who had years to remember. Sport has seen some vintage moments in 2011, though for some – they would rather forget it ever existed.
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| BACKSEAT: Nadal has had to watch Djokovic take over in tennis |
The tennis year has been dominated by Serbian, Novak Djokovic. Djokovic had an incredible season, which saw him rise to the top of the ATP rankings and win three of the four Grand Slams (Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open). He became only the sixth individual in history to win three Grand Slams in a single year, only losing six matches in his season. He also took control of the ATP tour, winning six events. Rafael Nadal had to play second fiddle this year, but he was beaten in two finals by Djokovic at the Grand Slams and took his traditional title at Roland Garros. This meant that for the first time since 2002, Roger Federer went through a season without a Grand Slam title. Despite this, the Swiss Master still showed flashes of his best with an epic semi-final success over Djokovic at the French Open and winning the season finale ATP finals in London. Andy Murray’s ATP season was inconsistent, littered with several early exits. However, he did win the Aegon Championships at Queen’s and strung together his best ever Grand Slam season. Murray reached three semi-finals and was a gallant runner-up to Djokovic in Australia. However, he needs to raise his game otherwise he will be left behind by the three masters of the men’s game. In the ladies singles, there were four different Grand Slam winners. Kim Clistjers took the honours in Australia, before injury wrecked her season. China made its breakthrough in the major honours, when Na Li overcame Francesca Schiavone to win the French Open. At Wimbledon, the relatively unknown Petra Kvitova got the better of a rejuvenated Maria Sharapova to become the first Czech since Jana Novotna in 1998 to win the main prize. Sam Stosur continued the run of maiden winners, when she was too powerful for Serena Williams at the US Open in Flushing Meadows. However, this year belonged to Novak Djokovic.
Rugby union’s greatest showpiece took place in New Zealand during the autumn and produced a fairytale story. New Zealand had suffered a devastating year, with the earthquake in Christchurch and the River Pike mining tragedy. However, despite not being the greatest All Blacks side to ever take part in a World Cup, they were able to produce what many haven’t; win the Webb Ellis Trophy. They beat France in a close final 8-7, allowing inspirational captain Richie McCaw to lift the coveted prize, their first success since the inaugural tournament in 1987. Defending champions South Africa disappointed, but were unlucky to bow out to Australia 11-9 in the quarter-finals. The 2011 tournament was a mixed bag for the Home Nations. Scotland bowed out at the group stages after failing to score tries in three of their four pool matches. Ireland shook the tournament up with a shock and deserved win over Australia in the pool stages, but came up short in the quarter-finals against Wales, who were the story of the tournament. Warren Gatland’s young side came so close to defeating South Africa on the opening weekend and played some fantastic rugby en route to a heartbreaking semi-final defeat at the hands of the improving French. Wales cause was not helped by the controversial red card of Captain Sam Warburton. England’s 2011 year was a disaster. It started well with success in the RBS Six Nations. Even that was tempered by losing a chance at the Grand Slam in Dublin on the final weekend. At the world cup, off-field antics got in the way of their playing performances. They laboured to wins over Argentina, Georgia and Scotland and eventually, it was old enemy France who got the better of England in convincing fashion in the last eight. The fallout has continued since returning from Down Under, with The Times publishing media leaks of confidential reports, Martin Johnson quitting as team manager and Johnny Wilkinson announcing his retirement from international rugby. So, it was a year to forget for English rugby, but one that New Zealand will hail a new golden generation.
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| CHANGE: Long Run won both the King George VI and Cheltenham Gold Cup |
There has been a changing of the guard in horse racing, as Long Run has taken jump racing to another level. He won the delayed King George VI at Kempton in January and then held off Denman to succeed in a thrilling Cheltenham Gold Cup in March. Sam Wahey-Cohen nearly completed a unique double in the John Smith’s Grand National. The amateur jockey was pipped into second place by Jason Maguire’s ride, Ballabriggs. It was another triumph for the McCain dynasty, with Donald McCain training the winning horse in humid conditions at Aintree. His father Ginger was there to witness it, but it would turn out to be his last attendance at the National. He sadly passed away from cancer in September, two days before his 81st birthday. On the flat, the 4-1 second favourite Pour Moi won the Epsom Derby in June whilst Frankel was named Horse of the Year after stretching an unbeaten run to nine, which included success in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Royal Ascot. The main storm in horse racing has come through an amended ruling on the whip system. Leading jockeys included AP McCoy threatened to go on strike which brought the sport on a potential collision course with the authorities. After some tough negotiating, the rules have been changed so jockeys can use the whip seven times in flat races and eight times over jumps. Although the jockeys still weren’t delighted with the tweaks, they decided to agree reluctantly and carry on competing. The year ended with Paul Nicholls announcement that Denman was to be retired after injury. Despite a recent brilliant win at Newbury, his stablemate Kauto Star might also be bowing out soon after a year of fluctuating form.
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| SHOCK: Usain Bolt false starts in Daegu and is disqualified in 100m |
Daegu in South Korea was the setting for the IAAF World Athletics Championships during August and September. With it came the biggest shock of the sporting year. World record holder and defending champion Usain Bolt unbelievably false started in the final of the men’s 100m. As he tore his vest off his torso, Bolt could only watch his training partner Yohan Blake collecting the gold medal. In true Bolt fashion, he bounced back to win the 200m, and be part of the Jamaican team that broke a world record in the 4x100m relay. It was a mixed championship for Great Britain, with the biggest success coming from Dai Greene, who won the men’s 400m hurdles and from Mo Farah. Farah was pipped into second place by Ibrahim Jeilan in the 10,000m, but went one better in the 5,000m. Pre-event favourites in the men’s triple jump and women’s heptathlon, Phillips Idowu and Jessica Ennis had to settle for silver, despite season bests and points records. There was also a bronze for Andy Turner in the men’s 110m hurdles after Cuba’s Dayron Robles was disqualified for an infringement and Hannah England took a surprising and sensational silver medal in the women’s 1500m. In all, the championships were a major success with London just a year away. Next year’s Olympic host had more reason to celebrate when it was awarded the 2017 World Championships in November.
By its high standards, football has had a quiet year, but that doesn’t mean nothing happened. Manchester United made history by finally breaking Liverpool’s record of 18 league titles. A 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers in May secured another Premiership title for Sir Alex Ferguson. Their noisy neighbours, Manchester City currently lead the new title battle by two points and stunned United in October, with an amazing 6-1 derby victory at Old Trafford. City also ended their long drought for silverware by beating Stoke City 1-0 at Wembley to win the FA Cup. Birmingham City ended up as the surprising winners of the Carling Cup, with Obafemi Martins last minute winner meaning Arsenal went through another year without silverware. Sadly, this wouldn’t have a happy ending, as Birmingham got relegated from the Premiership, along with Blackpool and West Ham United. QPR and Norwich City returned to the top flight and a 4-2 success over Reading in the Championship play-off final meant Swansea City became the first Welsh club to reach the Premiership promise land. Like Arsenal, Chelsea went trophy less, wasted £50million on Liverpool’s wantaway striker Fernando Torres and then sacked Carlo Ancelotti. He has been replaced by Andre Vilas-Boas, who led FC Porto to Europa League glory in Dublin in May. Arsenal sold Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona in the summer and it was the Catalan side who stole the football limelight. They cantered to La Liga success again, won the FIFA World Club Championship in Japan recently and produced an exhibition masterclass at Wembley to beat Manchester United 3-1 in the UEFA Champions League final. On the international scene, England qualified for Euro 2012 and went through the calendar year unbeaten. The Republic of Ireland will also be at the major European party next summer.
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| TRAGIC: Simoncelli and Wheldon's deaths rocked motorsport |
MotoGP was meant to be saluting Casey Stoner for an incredible season, in which the Australian and his Repsol Honda team blitzed the opposition. Stoner won 11 races and clinched the title in his homeland of Australia. A week later, the sport was rocked by the tragic accident in Malaysia that robbed motorcycling of one of its brightest stars. Marco Simoncelli crashed on the second lap and was struck by Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi. He died an hour afterwards from his injuries and his death sent shockwaves through motorsport. Simoncelli’s flair will be missed in the paddock in 2012 and it came just a week after a dreadful pile-up at the IndyCar season finale in Las Vegas. The 15-car crash claimed the life of British driver Dan Wheldon, who was only competing in his third event of the season. Wheldon had won the Indianapolis 500 in sensational fashion earlier in the year. Las Vegas may have lost its race next season, but it won’t bring Dan back. Dario Franchitti’s third successive championship was made academic. In Formula One, Sebastian Vettel was in a class of his own, winning 11 races, taking a record breaking 15 pole positions in a season and winning a second world championship. In a year full of vintage races and countless overtaking, Sebastian stormed to success with a third place finish in Suzuka, Japan in October meaning he became the youngest back-to-back champion. Britain’s Jenson Button won three events, including a sensational last lap triumph from the back In Canada and he was the runner-up in the final positions. Fellow Brit Lewis Hamilton had a troubled year, which included a high-profile split from his girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger and many on-track altercations with Felipe Massa. However, he won in China, Germany and Abu Dhabi to remind everyone of his capabilities. Sadly though, 2011 will be remembered for tragedy rather than records in motorsport.
In other sport, British golfers came of age in 2011. Luke Donald became the world and European no.1, whilst there was an emotional and popular success for Darren Clarke at The Open Championship. Having thrown away the US Masters at Augusta in April, Rory McIlroy produced a breathtaking display to win the US Open in June. It was his first major and certainly won’t be his last. Following their winter success in the Ashes, England’s cricketers had a summer to remember, recording a whitewash summer over Sri Lanka and India and establishing themselves as the no.1 ranked test team. However, their performance at the Cricket World Cup was less impressive, which included shock defeats to Ireland and Bangladesh in the pool stages. India won the trophy, beating Sri Lanka in a one-sided final. For once, Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor was usurped in the PDC World Darts Championships, being knocked out in the quarter-finals. Adrian Lewis won the tournament, beating Gary Anderson 7-5 in the final. Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 in February to take the honours in Superbowl XLV. Australian Cadel Evans became the first Wallaby to win the Tour de France since the war, but the headlines were made by Mark Cavendish. The Brit won the most overall stages and ended up winning the prestigious green jersey at the end. Boxing has had better years, which saw David Haye lose his World Heavyweight title to Vladimir Klitcshko, then retire from the sport and Amir Khan recently lose his titles in controversial circumstances to Lamont Peterson. Lastly, John Higgins bounced back from a match-fixing scandal to win his fourth World Snooker championship, defeating Judd Trump 18-15 in a thrilling final.
Sport has had its moments of controversy and surprise, its moments of triumph and tragedy and its moments where you will remember where you were. 2012 includes the Olympics in London and the European Football Championships in Poland/Ukraine, so it promises just as much as 2011 ended up delivering.
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