Hope 2016 is better ...
THIS was the year we were supposed to have celebrated sport. Yet, in many respects, when we look back in a couple of years’ time, 2015 was no classic. We can only hope that 2016 brings better performances and memories.
This last column of the year is also one done without any help from our dear friend Google or, in fact, any referencing on the internet.
So, for me, it becomes a test as to what stood out in the memory and what didn’t.
Floyd Mayweather versus Manny Pacquiao was dubbed as boxing’s “Fight of the 21st Century”.
As so often is the case when we hype an event so much, it turns out to be less than worthy of the attention afforded it.
Many of us foresaw the result: the unbeaten Mayweather putting on a defensive masterclass to defeat the come-forward Pacman and win a comfortable 12-round points decision.
That happened and boxing suffered another black eye. It was a yawn fest of note.
Little wonder the sport is losing ground to the younger generation in favour of UFC, which saw some explosive contests this year, not least of them the “unbeatable” Ronda Rousey getting starched by Holly Holm and Conor McGregor’s brutal KO of Jose Aldo a couple of weeks ago.
Yet the biggest story, surely, was that of Fifa’s corrupt house crumbling, with just about everyone near the top of that particular establishment being tainted by a wide-ranging and ongoing FBI investigation. South Africa – still insisting that the $10-million “bribe” was simply a donation to the Caribbean to develop soccer, in exchange for 2010 bid backing – was drawn into the sorry mess as well.
South Africa’s government and minister of sport need to realise they’re being investigated by the FBI and not a constable from a Durban police station. I have no doubt that the two South African names linked to that $10m alleged bribe, will be made pubic in 2016, albeit against a wall of denial.
The Cricket and Rugby World Cups promised much for South Africans, but ultimately delivered little, and it’s my opinion that the Proteas have gone backwards since losing to New Zealand in the semi-finals against a backdrop of political team interference.
The Boks, meanwhile, looked little more than a top four side under Heyneke Meyer’s coaching, and I can’t see them getting much higher up the ladder under Allister Coetzee.
Seb Coe took over the IAAF, but is already in the mire over alleged knowledge of dealings that have pointed all 10 fingers at systematic Russian doping and cover-ups at the top level of the IAAF, involving then president Lamine Diack and, therefore, implying that Coe himself had knowledge.
This is a personal account and therefore one that suggests 2015 will be remembered for the wrong reasons.
However, while there was mud flying all around, the standout, joyous moments for me came at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing.
They say a picture can tell a thousand words, and so it was when Usain Bolt and Anaso Jobodwana crossed the line in the 200m semi-finals, looking at one another, each wearing the broadest of grins.
Jobodwana, the rising South African sprinter, will surely have this as his wallpaper on every electronic device he owns. It was a picture that showed the camaraderie of sport and it could well be showing the passing of the sprinting baton.
Bolt, at those world championships, twice repelled the challenge of the drugs-tainted Justin Gatlin, who’d gone to Beijing as the world leader in the 100m and 200m sprints.
The great Jamaican, however, secured gold in both, struggling in the short sprint, but dominating the longer one, Jobodwana winning bronze in the 200m.
It was in Beijing, though, where Wayde van Niekerk won gold in the one-lap 400m, and did so in an African record and the fourth fastest time ever for the distance.
The victory elevated him to superstar status in track and field, and the young man remains as humble as he was the first day he put on the spikes.
Van Niekerk was deservedly named SA Sports Star of the Year at Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula’s annual razzmatazz evening, and he might well double up next year if he can continue his progress at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
South African athletics was in an administrative mess a short time ago – many feel it still is – but it has taken a young breed of local athlete, from the sprints to middle distance, to haul it back onto its feet. Long may these youngsters allow us to celebrate sport for the right reasons.
in Sydney UNITED States supermaxi Comanche took an early lead in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, speeding down Australia’s east coast with favourite Wild Oats XI, seeking a ninth line honours victory, trailing in second place.
Wild Oats XI took the lead minutes after the starting siren, but the Ken Read-skippered Comanche exploited the north-easterly winds to lead out of Sydney Harbour, well ahead of the Australian yacht and other leading challengers.
Comanche’s start paralleled last year’s race when it also took an early lead, but was unable to hold off the Mark Richards-helmed Wild Oats.
As the leaders headed down the New South Wales coast, Wild Oats was second with Rambler in third.
More than 100 yachts lined up for the start of Australia’s premier blue water yacht race, now in its 71st year, including the first entrants from China.
Covering 1 170km of the Tasman Sea and Southern Ocean, the race is Australia’s premier annual event and among the world’s most gruelling.