With 2008 fast coming to a close, it’s a good time to hand out my gongs for the Top Ten Individual Sporting Performers of the year.
Michael Phelps
Simply put, he achieved the impossible. To win eight gold medals in an Olympic career is pretty impressive, let alone to do so in a week. Don’t worry that in some races he just got by, or in others he had a little help from his friends. At the end of the day, he went 8 for 8 in ’08. The only way from here may be down, but that doesn’t diminish what he achieved in Beijing or tarnish the legacy and legend he created.
Rafael Nadal
He won his fourth straight French Open, his first Wimbledon title, Olympic gold and became the world’s best player. Not a bad year for the Bull from Majorca who is still just 22. When Roger Federer was Nadal’s age, he only had one major title to his credit as opposed to the five Nadal has.
Usain Bolt
The men’s 100m final is one of the showcase events of any Olympics. Bolt was so much better than everyone else that he could slow down towards the finish line and still win by a considerable margin. His winning time was a world record 9.69, but it was calculated that, had he run the whole race at full speed, he would have broken 9.6. He won two more gold medals in the 200m and 4×100 relay, both of which were also in world record time.
Lewis Hamilton
After the heartache of last year, he bounced back to be the youngest ever F1 Champion, winning the championship on the final corner of the final lap of the final race. It’s a good thing he won the title because who knows how he would have been able to come back from losing the title on the final race for the second straight year.
Padraig Harrington
He flourished in Tiger’s absence with wins in the British Open and the US PGA. The last guy not named Tiger Woods to win two majors in the one year was Mark O’Meara, in 1998.
Shane Warne
It’s hard to keep a good man down, and Warne is no exception. A natural winner, he can’t stop. He finally had a chance to mould a team how he wanted. He took a motley crew of no-names who no one else wanted and led the Rajasthan Royals to the inaugural IPL title. If he wasn’t contributing with the ball or bat, he was inspiring his troops to heroics they themselves didn’t think were possible.
Buddy Franklin
For the next generation, he is the superstar of the AFL. He can do it all and did it in 2008. He kicked 100 goals for the season and capped off a premiership year by winning Hawthorn’s Best and Fairest.
Stephanie Rice
She equaled the most gold at a single games by an Australian which capped her evolution in 2008 from nobody to Facebook star to superstar.
Ryan Giggs
He broke Sir Bobby Charlton’s record of 758 Manchester United appearances in the Champions League Final which the Red Devils won. Has better batteries than the Duracell Bunny!
Bart Cummings
He flew under the radar as the foreign raiders hogged much of the pre-race Melbourne Cup headlines and hype. That didn’t phase Bart as he did what he does best. Just short of his 81st birthday, Viewed stormed home to hand Cummings his first Melbourne Cup since 1999.
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