Top 5 sports events in 2014

Source:Global Times Published: 2014-12-25 23:08:02

A year full of thrills, spills, broken dreams in abundance


German players celebrate winning the 2014 World Cup at Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on July 13. Photo: IC



Every year is memorable in the world of sport and 2014 was no exception.

There have been thrills, spills, shattered records and broken dreams in abundance.

We saw the Seahawks blow the Broncos away to win their first Super Bowl, the ill-fated attempts of David Moyes to replace Sir Alex Ferguson and Rory McIlroy become only the third player in golf history to win three majors before turning 25. There was also the final day of La Liga, where any one of Barcelona, Real Madrid or city rivals Atletico could have claimed the title, LeBron James moving back to Cleveland and Lewis Hamilton ending Sebastien Vettel's dreams of five F1 driver's titles in a row, and Dennis Kimetto's almost superhuman marathon world record.

The list of incident and achievement goes on and on, but as we await another bumper year of sport in 2015, we've picked five key events that defined 2014.

Best World Cup in years



A World Cup in the ­beautiful game's spiritual home was always going to be the event of the year and the tournament in Brazil did not disappoint. It will be remembered for the good and the bad.

The bad side was a ticketing scandal, FIFA's corruption, the pre-tournament protests from the Brazilian public, Chile fans storming the media center at the Maracana highlighting the gross inadequacies of planning and brand-new stadiums going to rack and ruin after a handful of group games.

But when it was good, it was so good.

Germany sauntered to soccer's summit and embarrassed the Neymar-less hosts 7-1 along the way, while prior to that the Barcelona forward was one of the stars of the ­summer. We will all remember the arrival of Colombia's James Rodriguez onto the world stage. There were goals galore, the fans were for the most part impeccably behaved and the tiki-taka era was cruelly dismantled before our eyes. At Brazil 2014, ­soccer truly came home.

Tennis turns the page



What a year for the singles game. There were eight different winners over the men's and women's titles at the Grand Slams for the first time since 1998 and only the third time since the Open Era began in 1968.

In the men's game, Stanislas Wawrinka beat Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open, Nadal then beat Djokovic at the French Open, Djokovic promptly bested Federer at Wimbledon (much to the fans' dismay), and then Marin Cilic edged out Kei Nishikori at Forest Hills. Throw in Andy Murray making the quarters at least of every major and men's tennis is at a level of competition never before seen.

In the women's game, Li Na won in Melbourne over Dominika Cibulkova, Maria Sharapova beat Simona Halep in Paris, Petra Kvitova outlasted Eugenie Bochard in SW19 and Serena Williams triumphed over Caroline Wozniacki at the US Open.

The winners of 1998 proved to be something of a false dawn but this feels like the start of a new era. Utterly unpredictable throughout, 2014 may be the end of years of dominance in both the men's and women's games.

Olympic dreams for all



Olympic chief Thomas Bach's sweeping reforms may only have happened earlier this month but the biggest shake-up of the IOC in decades will live long in the memory.

The most striking alteration is that now multiple cities and countries can make joint bids to host the Games, allowing for the possibility of a Southeast Asian Olympic Games in the future.

The more sensible measure, given the farcical nature of bidding for the 2022 Winter Games which saw six potential hosts throw in the towel because of financial difficulties, is that prospective candidates can now discuss their financial plans with the governing body before launching an official bid.

The logistics of a shared Olympic Games will need to be resolved, but the potential opens up a new world and shows a welcome touch of common sense from a governing body, something that has been all too rare in recent years.

Pistorius murder trial



The man they called "Blade Runner" went on trial for the 2013 shooting of his girlfriend at his Pretoria compound.

As expected, the full glare of the media was in court where Pistorius was charged with murdering Reeva Steenkamp and eventually found guilty of culpable homicide. At the end of a trial that saw the ­sprinter's character torn to shreds, he was handed a five-year prison sentence. Pistorius learned earlier this month that prosecutors have won the right to appeal the verdict and seek a murder conviction that could result in at least 15 years behind bars.

Schumacher injury



The German driver fielded accusations of being something of a machine during his stellar career, but this year proved Schumacher was only all too human.

After being involved in a skiing accident at the turn of the year, the seven-time F1 champion was in a coma at a Swiss hospital until June. In September he was allowed home to recuperate but reports last month stated that Schumacher is currently paralyzed and wheelchair-bound. The thoughts of the sports world remain with the former great who continued to live life on the edge even after he'd hung up his gloves.



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