At the end of the year in which he rode his 4,000th winner, AP McCoy talks candidly about the thrill of winning and the fear of failure, the physical and emotional cost of becoming the champion of champion jockeys and why, when he saw Roy Keane on television, he thought he was looking in the mirror.

Four crazy, blurred months have spun by since Katie Taylor claimed gold at the ExCel Arena in London and Peter Taylor, her father and coach, expressed the hope that his daughter would walk away from the ring for the last time.

A REMARKABLE year could get even better this weekend as Graeme McDowell bids to claim the Race to Dubai and become the European Tour’s number one player.

All-Ireland winning Tyrone skipper Peter Canavan has opted not to attend the upcoming BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards ceremony on Sunday next.