A glorious embarrassment of riches

So those really were the days of miracle and wonder, the time of times, or any other lyric you might care to think of. 2012 — never has a year of sport provided so many thrills and tears, so many shivers of disbelief, so much joy. From Manchester City winning the Premiership with the last kick of the season, to England’s demolition of the mighty All Blacks; from the first British winner in the history of the Tour de France to the first British men’s Grand Slam tennis champion since the war; from the Ryder Cup’s Miracle in Medinah — beating the Yanks from 10-4 down thanks to the spirit of Seve and Ian Poulter’s red-hot putter to cricket’s Marvel in Mumbai when England, against all expectations, won a Test in India by being better at playing and bowling spin than their hosts. Did all that really happen?

And of course a gold rush at both the Olympics and Paralympics, where the sun shone, the capital flowed and we had the time of our lives. The great British sports public proved that it didn’t matter if you had two legs, one leg, no legs or were riding on four legs, we would love you just as much and cheer you just as loudly. The Games captured a brilliant British trick: they were grand and highly organised, but also personal and mischievous. The tone set by Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony (we can take a joke!) was echoed by the volunteers, with their preposterous giant sponge hands to point the way, giving the Games their human dimension. Sebastian Coe’s beautiful line from the closing ceremony could apply now to the whole year, to the sportsmen and women, to the administrators, the fans, the public and the players: ‘When your time came, Britain, you did it right.’

And you get a reflection of this, but not all of it, in the shortlist of 12 for Sports Personality of the Year: Nicola Adams (boxing), Ben Ainslie (sailing), Jessica Ennis (athletics), Mo Farah (athletics), Katherine Grainger (rowing), Sir Chris Hoy (cycling), Rory McIlroy (golf), Andy Murray (tennis), Ellie Simmonds (swimming), Sarah Storey (cycling), David Weir (athletics), Bradley Wiggins (cycling).