The year in numbers according to Derval O'Rourke
On the way to their historic Six Nations crown, they smashed England 25-0. Considering before the game they had suffered 17 loses to England, it was a huge result. The Fiona Coghlan-captained team have made major improvements this year and put themselves in a great position coming into the 2014 season, one which will see them attempt to defend their Six Nations title before tackling the Rugby World Cup in France next summer.
Their success is a great boost for women’s sport at a time when participation levels are worrying.
is the position that Roy Keane has slotted into in the Irish soccer set up. The sight of Keane on the sidelines celebrating an Irish win in the Aviva was great to see. Hopefully it’s something we will see much more of in 2014.
was a date that rocked world sport. Oscar Pistorius shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp dead in his home in Pretoria. He has been charged with murder and is awaiting trial. In 2012, Pistorius lit up the London Olympics by becoming the first double amputee athlete to compete, making the semi-finals of the men’s 400 metres. He is well known to all of us on the athletics circuit and it was shocking news. The reality is a girl with her whole life ahead of her was killed that night, shot four times, once in the head. It’s a horrific end to a life and the details of that night will be played out in a courtroom in South Africa in 2014.
seconds was the difference between history and heartbreak for the Irish rugby team even though it doesn’t seem like a length of time that could be hugely significant in a rugby game. I was one of the screaming Irish fans left gutted as the All Blacks snatched a victory from Ireland in the final seconds. With 29 seconds to go, Ireland were leading 22-17 and in possession of the ball in the All-Black’s half. The All-Blacks were relentless in their hunt for the win. Those seconds demonstrated in the harshest possible way that it ain’t over ‘til it’s over.
years is the length of time that had passed since a British man lifted the Wimbledon men’s singles title. It’s a long time and it must have felt especially long to Andy Murray. He beat Novak Djokovic to lift the trophy and appeared to react with sheer relief as opposed to joy when he won. For now, the British can rest easy with a home champion. 2014 could be a different story.
of a second is what it took to separate Christine Ohurougu and Amantle Montsho in a photo finish for the women’s 400 metre world title. It is the tiniest of margins. I have a huge amount of admiration for how Ohurougu races, she has a habit of timing her races to perfection. She beats opponents when it matters most, at a major championship. Montsho must still have moments when she cannot believe Ohurougu ran her down in the final 100 metres to take the race. She led by almost 10 metres coming into the final 100 metres. Those four thousandths of a second may be tiny but they are what makes Ohurougu very special.
miles is the distance people run to complete a marathon — a distance that represents so much more than just a race. People do marathons for all kinds of reasons, usually filled with hope and aspirations. In April at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, two pressure cooker bombs exploded. It was a scene of unspeakable carnage. People ran to help the injured and the reactions of spectators and runners were heroic.
I found the images from that day heartbreaking. To me the marathon represents all that is good, be it the elite or those who simply want to finish.
Three people died and over 260 were injured. In 2014 the Boston Marathon will return and will try to show the world what resilience is.
was the score the Oracle Team USA were trailing by in sailing’s 34th America’s Cup in late September. In one of the greatest sporting comebacks, the Oracle Team won the next seven races in a row to take the competition to a winner-takes-all decider. The Oracle Team took the deciding race in triumphant fashion with about a minute to spare over Emirates Team New Zealand — high drama and well worth watching.
was the magic number of wins accredited to AP McCoy this year. He is the first jump jockey to reach 4,000 wins. I read a statistic that estimated he has taken about 1,000 falls on the way. I jump hurdles and have taken one bad racing fall — one too many for me. I have huge admiration for AP, he’s an astonishing sportsperson who’s been relentless in his pursuit of success. Maybe one day we will speak of the magical 5,000 but for 2013 it’s great to savour the 4,000 wins and acknowledge how special that number is.
is the time it took Robert Heffernan to become world champion. He is the first outdoor Irish world athletics champion since Sonia O’Sullivan in 1995. To walk 50km in this time is remarkable but to do it in Russia, the home of race walking legends and take gold, was outstanding. Having collected a few fourth places, Heffernan could have become the nearly man, this made it all the more special when his first time on the podium was right at the top of it. Seeing “Rob 3.37.56” displayed in the Port of Cork following his triumph was one of the nicest sights for me.
