Square Mile Sport Awards - Vote Now!
There are defining moments in every sport. Moments that capture the public's imagination and decide the result of the sporting contest. Below are the 5 sporting moments from the last year that have been nominated for this award…
The winner was chosen from the 5 nominees below...
Usain Bolt,
100m Final, Beijing Olympics
Jamaican sprinter Usain 'Lightning' Bolt was the undoubted track and field star of the Beijing Olympics. If winning the 100m and 200m in world records was not an astonishing enough statistic in its own right, it was the manner of his victories that captured the public's imagination. It all looked so easy for him, like he was strolling around his local Caribbean park. The defining moment was when, during the 100m final, he began to celebrate victory some 15 metres from the line. With arms outstretched, he ran the last few metres of the race like it was a victory lap, not to mention the fact his shoelaces were untied. He clocked a time of 9.69 seconds. God knows how quick he could have run if he'd actual sprinted all the way to the line.
Manchester United v Chelsea, UEFA Champions League Final
It was perhaps no surprise when the two giants of the English game, Manchester United and Chelsea, progressed through to this year's Champions League Final. Locked at 1-1 after extra time, the match went to penalties. With the rain pouring down in Moscow, World Player of the Year Ronaldo missed for United and Chelsea's talismanic captain John Terry had a penalty to win the game. Running up to the ball, the big central defender lost his footing on the sodden turf and his shot hit the post. At that point, with the eyes of the world on Moscow, it was as if fate had transpired to hand United the trophy, 50 years after the Busby Babes tragedy. True sporting theatre.
Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal, Wimbledon Men's Singles Final
You run out of superlatives when discussing this year's Wimbledon Men's Singles Final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. After five sets of unremitting brilliance from both players ended in a Nadal victory, the match was immediately hailed as the greatest ever Wimbledon Final. From rain delays and bad light to astonishing comebacks and nail-biting tie-breaks, the four hour and 48 minute spectacle had it all. It's difficult to pick a single moment from so many staggering periods of play but when, at just before 9pm with the match tied at 7-7 in the fifth set, Federer's passing shot narrowly missed the baseline giving Nadal the crucial break, the packed Centre Court crowd realised it had witnessed something special.
New York Giants v New England Patriots, SuperBowl XLII
With typical bravado, the SuperBowl claims to be the most watching sporting event on the planet but often the spectacle flatters to decieve. Not so this year where not even a repeat of Janet Jackson's 'wardrobe malfunction' would have stolen the thunder of the New York Giants. Going into the game the New England Patriots were overwhelming favourites boasting an unbeaten 19-0 season record. The tie was going according to the script until Giants' quarterback Eli Manning fired a sublime 32-yard pass to David Tyree, who held one of the finest catches in Super Bowl history above his head. It prompted a last-gasp 12-play, 83-yard drive which climaxed with Manning finding Plaxico Burress for a winning touchdown with only seconds on the clock.
Michael Phelps, 100m Butterfly Final, Beijing Olympics
Part-human part-fish, US swimming legend Michael Phelps looked unbeatable every time he took to the Beijing swimming pool this summer in his quest for a record eight gold medals in a single Games. With six golds already in the bag, there were few doubters that he would add to his tally in the 100m Butterfly Final. However, at the turn with 50m to go, Phelps was down in seventh and out of contention. His speed over the final few metres epitomised his sheer will to win, storming back to pip Serbia's Milorad Cavic by one hundredth of a second - the smallest margin of timing in swimming. Replays showed that a last-gasp stretch of his fingertips, practically dislocating them in the process, kept Phelps' dream alive.