Lance Armstrong confesses

In the grand theatre of sport, great victories are toasted and celebrated but perhaps the greatest victory for sport in the modern age will be mourned - forever.

With one word ‘yes’ uttered to Oprah Winfrey on January 13, Lance Armstrong, the man who transcended sport, defied science, the beacon of light in the world’s most drug-tainted sport, was gone. 

His admission to years of the most sophisticated and systematic doping left all the sermonising on podiums about people ‘‘who don’t believe in miracles’’, all the litigious indignation, all the millions of ‘live strong’ wristbands, in hollow disgraceful heap.

All that remained was a ruthless bully, a liar, a fraud with seven empty yellow shirts that wouldn’t sell at Lifeline.

The whole mess should be remembered as a momentous victory over sport’s greatest scourge but it does leave us with the question: will we ever believe again?

Adam Scott breaks Aussie drought at Masters

He might have yelled out ‘Queenslander’ when he sank that 15-foot birdie putt but Adam Scott’s US Masters win was celebrated all across Australia.

It broke the most famous duck in Australian sport and the fact it came in a play-off, made it that much sweeter for Aussie fans still scarred by Greg Norman’s consecutive chokes at the Masters in 86-87.

We dared to dream when Scott birdied the final hole, only for 2009 Masters champ Angel Cabrera to snatch the fairytale from us again with a birdie of his own to tie Scott at nine-under and force a play-off.

Cabrera had Australians thinking ‘here we go again’ when he missed a birdie putt on the first play-off hole by inches, but the Argentine gave Scott his shot at glory by parring the next.

An entire nation rode every millimetre of Scott’s 15-foot birdie putt that buried the hoodoo at the bottom of the cup and crowned an Australian sporting hero.

Blade Runner murder charge

Oscar Pistorius’s run on carbon fibre blades in the 400 metres at the London Olympics was arguably the biggest sports story of 2012 - winning headlines all over the world. 

On Valentine’s Day this year the ‘Blade Runner’ was again plastered all over the front pages, this time charged with murdering girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, in what he claims was a case of mistaken identity, in their home in Pretoria.

Following the death of Steenkamp, more details about Pistorius emerged, details contrary to the image of the international hero he’d become.

The history of violence, the disturbing affinity with firearms and the loaded 9mm Parabellum he kept underneath the bed; the same pistol with which he shot Steenkamp. 

The jury’s still out and the world now awaits the outcome of the biggest sports star murder trial since OJ Simpson.

Sachin Tendulkar retires

The only person more popular in India is Gandhi ... but only by a nose.

The little master called time on an amazing career, even if it did follow a farewell tour longer than all of John Farnham’s put together, on November 16 in his 200th Test.

His status as a national hero in India may have prolonged a career that would have been cut short had he played for Australia, but the stats speak for themselves.

Test debut at age 16; 200 Tests with an average of 53; 463 ODI’s; 30,000 runs in international cricket and 100 international centuries.

The best batsman we’ll probably ever see with a record unlikely to be surpassed.

He had plenty of success in Australia, against whom he scored 20 of his 100 hundreds. He even earned the title of honourary Aussie with an Order of Australia medal. Widely rated the best since Don Bradman.

Boston Marathon bombings

Nothing epitomises sport’s ability to bring people together quite like the marathon but, this year at least, it became a brutal symbol of what divides us.

On April 15, 23,000 people of all ages, races and abilities set out after the Olympus of athletic achievement at America’s oldest marathon in Boston.

At 2.49 pm with the race clock at 4hr09min43sec and with about 6000 runners yet to finish, two bombs detonated near the finish line. Three people were killed and another 264 were injured, producing war-zone images that will hang over the event for years to come.

Brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, ‘‘self-radicalised’’ Islamic extremists were behind the cowardly attacks they claimed were in response to US intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Tamerlan, a one-time aspirant to the US Olympic boxing team, was killed in a standoff with police three days later while Dzhokhar is awaiting trial and will find out in January whether he’ll face the death penalty.

Sir Alex Ferguson retires

Twenty six years at the helm of any organisation is a laudable feat but to do so at the world’s most famous football club in the most cut-throat of all cut-throat professional sports is absolute excellence without peer.

Ferguson built perhaps sport’s greatest dynasty at Manchester United with 13 Premier League titles; five FA Cup titles; two UEAFA Champions League trophies and a host of other individual honours.

The likes of Beckham, van Nistelrooy, Giggs, Ronaldo, Rooney, Scholes, Keane and Cantona all thrived under the tutelage of the Scotsman who may well be the best coach of any team, in any sport, in any time. At the very least he’s in the conversation.

On his retirement on May 8, Ferguson said he looked forward to watching football for fun again. If anyone’s earned that right, it’s him.

Aussie skipper leads America’s Cup comeback

OK, so the wing-sail catamarans might look nothing like Australia II but the Oracle Team USA’s comeback in this year’s America’s Cup was one for the ages.

The Australian public may have lost interest in the event since John Bertrand and the winged keel broke America’s 132-year hold on their own event, but it was impossible not to be caught up in the hype of the US resurgence in September.

The Kiwis looked home and hosed after taking an 8-0 lead in the series before Oracle’s Aussie skipper James Spithill led an epic comeback to draw level at eight races apiece.

All of a sudden we were on board with Spithill and the four other Aussies in his crew.

Spithill and team USA’s victory on September 25 in the first ‘winner-takes-all’ deciding America’s Cup race, since Australia’s 1983 triumph, secured one of the best comebacks in sports history.

Aussie, Aussie Aussie!

Andy Murray breaks British Wimbledon drought

How does a Scotsman become an Englishman? Win Wimbledon, of course.

Not since Fred Perry beat Gottfried von Cramm in 1936 with a wooden racket and cat-gut strings had a Brit lifted the trophy at Wimbledon [16 Aussies did in that time, thanks for asking].

After being the bridesmaid in five grand slam finals, Murray finally got the monkey off his back with his 2012 US Open but the pesky bugger was still hanging over the country when Murray arrived at the All England Club in June.

Rafael Nadal’s unthinkable first-round exit gave Murray a sniff and, when Roger Federer fell in the second, he was high on the fumes.

He did, however, have to deal with his old foe Novak Djokovic in their third consecutive grand slam final.

Murray’s straight-sets victory set the bagpipes wailing all over Scotland, where the grand slam drought stretched back 117 years to Harold Mahoney in 1896.

Calendar year blackout

Australians probably don’t need reminding about the strength of the All Blacks given our 10-year Bledisloe drought, but the whole world was forced to take notice in 2013.

The world’s premier rugby outfit completed an amazing 14-game undefeated streak with a come-from-behind 24-22 win over Ireland on November 24.

The streak featured only one game against a minnow side, a 54-6 win over Japan in November.

The feat was made all the more impressive by the ease with which it was accomplished, even as inspirational skipper Richie McCaw battled injury and star five-eighth Dan Carter went on ‘sabbatical’. 

The All Blacks looked like they might fall at the final hurdle after trailing Ireland 19-0 in Dublin before a Ryan Crotty try after the siren and a sideline conversion from Aaron Cruden won the match and completed the calendar year blackout.

Vettel joins greats with record year

While his strained relationship with so-called ‘‘teammate’’ Mark Webber has never endeared him to Australian fans, Sebastian Vettel proved he really is the best in the world with his fourth consecutive F1 championship on October 27.

His win at the Indian Grand Prix made him just the third driver in the sport’s 64 years to win four successive titles; and he’s only 26.

He broke the record for most consecutive wins in a single season with nine and tied Michael Schumacher’s record for wins in a single season with 13. 

His 13 victories included a controversial Malaysian Grand Prix crown in March, when he defied team orders by overtaking teammate Webber late in the race to win. 

It left a sour taste in Webber’s mouth for much of the Australian’s final season, that ended with his retirement at the Brazilian Grand Prix on November 24.

Webber retired with nine wins and 42 podiums in a wonderful career.