INTI Orion.com

It required lots of hard work and effort to achieve this level of performance. Across the continent, hails a new champion. It all happened in the Bird Nest Stadium, China. All he needed was 9.69s to complete the 100m. Usain Bolt took the world of athletics to a new level. He’s moved the sport into a new level.

He was the first man since Carl Lewis at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 to compete in both 100m & 200m. Despite all the uncertainty and doubts about his capabilities; he proved his critics wrong by dominating both the 100m & 200m events. He wasn’t done yet. He had his sights on becoming a triple gold medalist. He achieved it in style with the Jamaican 4X100m relay team. 37.10s was all it took them to clinch the gold medal and also smash the world record. Athletics became more exciting thanks to Usain Bolt’s heroics.

Cristiano Ronaldo was named European Footballer of the Year, succeeding 2007 winner, Kaka. Ronaldo garnered 77 votes from 96 football journalists polled, after he scored 42 goals in United’s Premier League and Champions League winning season. He, at 23, became the third Portuguese player to lift the famous trophy after Eusebio and Luis Figo, with George Best, Dennis Law and Sir Bobby Charlton the previous winners at Old Trafford.

F1 07/08 incredibly went down the very last lap in Brazil but Hamilton emerged as Britain’s first championship winner in 12 years. After narrowly missing out on the crown in his rookie season, the Stevenage sensation demonstrated immense determination to triumph in only his second ever season. The problems he had this year in relation to racism and his over-the-top driving style that was criticized for being dangerous were quickly forgotten as he showed just how special he was for someone so young and inexperienced. Although he has shown he has still some years to go to join the true greats, he has well cemented an exciting reputation for being a “take-no-prisoners” overtaking specialist in the mould of his hero Aryton Senna. The boy just can’t keep away from it!

Contrasting is the best word used to describe MotoGp in 2008. It wasn’t a gloves-off fight for the title involving lots of riders. It was the expected two or three riders fighting for the title at the end. It was partly a case of Valentino Rossi’s talent that won him the title and partly a case of his rivals blowing it but it was his consistency that put them under intense pressure and forced them to make mistakes. Rossi’s triumph coincided with Stonner’s downfall at and after the US Grand prix. The next two races were disastrous outings for him. From then forward, Rossi was comfortably leading the championship. He took his chance and wrapped up his sixth title in Japan, coming out tops in the race. It remains to be seen, will Rossi dominate MotoGp for yet another season or will the young stalwart steals the spotlight?

Mallorca native Nadal, who was ranked world no.2 for 160 weeks, ended Roger Federer’s 237 weeks reign at the top spot of the South African Airways ATP Ranking courtesy of a tremendous season that saw him win 8 titles. He celebrated his rise to ‘numero uno’ in prefect fashion, winning the Olympic Singles gold medal in Beijing. Making his Olympic Games singles debut, Nadal became the highest-ranked player to win an Olympic men’s singles title, taking over from Andre Agassi who was ranked 6th when he won at Atlanta ‘96. As a result, Nadal finished the year as the top ranked player and will look to justify his status as world number one by winning the season opening Australian Open in January.

In an illustrious 15-year career, Sorenstam has won 89 tournaments worldwide including ten majors and 72 victories on the LPGA tour. These statistics barely scratch the surface of her achievements in a game she took up in preference to tennis, skiing and football when she was twelve. Painfully shy as a junior, she would deliberately three putt final greens to throw away wins as to avoid making victory speeches. But once she overcame that fear, she became a series winner, amassing prize money in excess of $ 22 million. She dominated the women’s game for over a decade, was the player of the year eight times in the process. She did concede however, that  it was the right time for her to call it a day.

“ I’m both happy and sad”, she said. The motivation is no longer there but I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved in the past 15 years. Life goes on and I’m very happy about my decision to move on. “I feel very good about women’s golf in general. It’s on the rise and will continue to grow further. I think stepping away at this time is very appropriate”.

Sorenstam’s departure is a big blow to the women’s game that, despite the wonderful Lorena Ochoa, is struggling to capture the imagination of the sporting public. The fact that Michelle Wie has secured her LPGA playing rights is welcoming news but will hardly compensate for the loss of a true great!