Relish the memories – 2008 was a special year for sport, and the outlook for the next few does not appear half so rosy.
Next year is thin in terms of big international events. The World Athletics Championships take place in Berlin, and it is left to rugby union – a minority sport globally – to provide another highlight when the British and Irish Lions tour South Africa, the world champions. And further ahead, the successor hosts of two of this year’s stellar events, the Olympic Games and the European Football Championships, have hard acts to follow, with fewer resources and the global economic crisis to combat.
The Beijing Olympics was the apex of 2008. China opened its doors to the world and demonstrated that it could organise a successful sporting extravaganza. It did so by hurling massive amounts of money and manpower at the Games, in a manner that perhaps only an authoritarian state could. The yin and yang nature of the event was symbolised by the happiness and pride of the Chinese people at hosting the world’s biggest sporting party on the one hand, and their government’s refusal to budge an inch over human rights on the other.
Yet the opening ceremony was an extraordinary spectacle, and the sport at times followed suit. Jamaican Usain Bolt breaking the world records in both the 100m and 200m sprints drew a collective gasp of astonishment from all watchers. He took a mere 9.69 and 19.30 seconds respectively to win each race but they will remain long in the memory. And Michael Phelps’s unprecedented haul of eight gold medals in the swimming pool was a mind-boggling achievement of all-round technique, stamina and fortitude from the greatest swimmer yet seen.
Ironically, Beijing was also a more democratic Games in the sense that China headed the medals table for the first time, and more countries than ever before won medals. Athletes from a record 87 nations reached the podiums, with the likes of Afghanistan, Mauritius, Tajikistan and Togo claiming their first medals.
Great Britain had an unexpectedly successful Games, coming fourth in the medals table, and its cycling team set new standards for the sport with their haul of 14 medals, including eight golds. The nation now faces the task of hosting the next summer Olympics in 2012 while contending with perhaps the worst global recession for decades. Yet London was fêted for its staging of the so-called “Austerity Games” of 1948, and the city would be wise to make a virtue out of economic necessity rather than try to ape the grandeur of Beijing’s Games.
Away from the Olympics, Lewis Hamilton became the first black Formula One world champion at the age of 23. His final-bend surge to secure the title by just one point in the final race was one of the year’s most dramatic moments. Manchester United won Europe’s Champions League and their defeat of domestic rivals Chelsea on penalties in the final demonstrated the growing wealth and power of England’s Premier League.
In tennis, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer produced one of the game’s greatest battles in the Wimbledon’s men’s final. After five sets and nearly five hours of play, only five points separated them. Nadal played a big part in giving Spain a sporting annus mirabilis . His treble of the French Open, Wimbledon and Olympic titles accompanied wins for cycling compatriots Carlos Sastre in the Tour de France and Alberto Contador in the Giro d’Italia, and Spain’s wonderfully fluent soccer team at the European Championships.
Those championships were hosted superbly by Austria and Switzerland but fans will perhaps not look forward quite so eagerly to Euro 2012. The decision to award them to Poland and Ukraine, which takes the championships to eastern Europe for the first time, was laudable but questions remain as to whether Ukraine in particular will have the necessary transport systems, hotels and stadiums built in time.
In golf, Tiger Woods reiterated how crucial he is to the game. His dramatic victory in the US Open, his 14th major, claimed despite the pain of a badly damaged knee ligament, was arguably his greatest performance. And his absence since while recovering from knee surgery has seen television viewing figures fall away, to the chagrin of sponsors and broadcasters.
Cricket had a year that historians may come to regard as one of the most important in its long history. Australia’s run as the world’s best team finally looked threatened when India humbled them 2-0 in a Test series. But of greater significance was India’s growing financial and political power within the game, and its successful staging of the first Twenty20 Indian Premier League, with its riches and razzmatazz. Indeed, the rise of Twenty20 in 2008 may well have been a transforming moment for the sport – one that supporters of traditional Test cricket will not welcome.
Money will undoubtedly talk, though. As the recession hits sport and the talk is of salary caps and sponsors withdrawing, Twenty20 appears to be one bright spot in the austere new-year outlook.
source: ft.com
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