It’s been another big year in sport. Some of the highlights include – Andy Murray winining Wimbledon, Manchester United reclaiming the title and Nigeria winning the Africa Cup of Nations. But none of these make my top three…
1. Christine Ohuruogu and Mo Farah strike GOLD
I was absolutely buzzing when Christine and Mo tore it up at the World Athletics Championships in Moscow this summer. The way Christine took the 400m gold was on another level. After her incredible victory at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, I never thought I would see another finish quite like it! However, this was some serious déjà vu – but even better this time around.
Meanwhile Mo’s historic double gold in the 5000m and 10000m blew me away! Lord Coe said his feats of winning 5 global golds made him Great Britain’s greatest ever athlete. What an accolade.
But what made me happiest, was that both of these athletes have had it pretty rough in the press over the years. I never felt they were celebrated as they should have been. So I saw their humungous victories also as the best possible response to the ignorance they both encountered on their journeys.
2. LeBron James helps Miami Heat to stunning NBA championship victory
What a NBA play off final this was between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs! After a closely contested series where both teams had won 3 games each – Game 7 was the most hotly anticipated sporting event in the USA! All the talk was about Miami Heat’s superstar, Lebron James. If he was to be talked about in the same breath as Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson, he HAD to deliver. And bwoy did he do that! James scored an incredible 37 points for the Heat and took 12 rebounds.
3. Tom Daley comes out
When GB diver, Tom Daley, posted a self shot video of himself on YouTube announcing he was in a relationship with a man, I doubt it came as the biggest shock to the nation. For years there had been speculation about his sexuality and the most popular assumption was that he was probably gay. This makes one of my highlights because of the bravery it took to come out.
It shouldn’t really matter who the Olympic bronze medalist is seeing – but I hope his decision to share this with the world only helps others to have the confidence to be themselves and not feel they have to live a secret public life to succeed in sport.
– What were your sporting highlights in 2013? Holla at me on Twitter @Leon_Mann