2012 sporting round up September - December
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UK Sport 30 December 2012
September
ParalympicsGB continued the summer gold rush at London 2012, with medals won across 13 different sports. In total 120 medals were won; 34 Gold, 43 Silver and 43 Bronze. ParalympicsGB also met UK Sport’s target of “more medals in more sports”, with Powerlifting, Sailing and Disability Table Tennis adding to the medal tally, having been absent in Beijing.
UK Sport invested a record £49.2m of National Lottery and Government funds for the four year London cycle to ensure this was the best prepared GB team in the history of Paralympic sport.
BADMINTON England appointed 2004 Olympic mixed doubles silver medallist and 2006 World Champion Nathan Robertson as an ambassador, joining his former mixed doubles partner Gail Emms in the role.
Olympic mixed doubles silver medallist and British number one Laura Robson became the first British woman to reach a WTA singles final since 1990 at the WTA Guangzhou event in China. Robson ultimately lost the match 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 to Chinese Taipei’s Su-Wei Hseih in two hours 48 minutes, but will now rise into the top 70 of the world rankings for the first time.
October
Olympic silver medallist Christine Ohuruogu led thousands of schoolchildren from all over the world in a global ‘race against hunger’ this month in the World Marathon Challenge.
Becky James won a remarkable four titles in five days at the British Cycling National Track Championships in Manchester, claiming victory in the sprint, team sprint, keirin and 500m time trial.
British short track speed skaters dominated the field at the International Invitation Cup in the Netherlands (29-30 Sep). The team won a total of eleven titles out of a possible twelve, including five individual and two relay wins, plus two overall classification titles and both top team positions.
In Wrestling, Olga Butkevych won Britain’s first ever women’s World Championship medal, claiming bronze at the 2012 Women’s World Championships in Edmonton, Canada.
Olympic bronze medallist Tom Daley and Jack Laugher became Junior World Champions at the Junior World Diving Championships in Adelaide.
Sky and British Cycling announced that they have beaten their goal of getting one million more Britons on their bikes and cycling regularly by 2013. The ambitious five-year target was set in 2008, when Sky first linked up with British Cycling, as a way of measuring the success of a partnership that has aimed to grow the sport at all levels, from the grassroots to the elite.
There will be British representation in all three divisions at the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters for the first time in the tournament's history, following the ITF’s announcement of entries.
Over in Short Track Speed Skating, Elise Christie opened her 2012-2013 campaign with a dominating performance at the ISU World Cup opening event in Calgary. Christie won a silver medal in the 1000m (1), and narrowly missed out on a second medal in the 1000m (2) after a fall in the final stages of the race.
November
A British team joined the International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) World Series of Boxing (WSB) for the first time. The exciting new team – the British Lionhearts – was launched in London.
Great Britain’s Olympic team pursuit champions Laura Trott, Dani King and Joanna Rowsell made the list of five British Cycling programme riders named in the Honda Dream Team Professional Cycling Team.
Great Britain Hockey was awarded the prestigious President's Award by the International Hockey Federation at its Congress in Malaysia.
Four-time Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie was named Sailor of the Year by the International Sailing Federation for a fourth time. Shortly after, he announced his retirement from Olympic sailing. Ainslie will instead focus on the America’s Cup.
In Taekwondo, Bianca Walkden collected a second successive gold medal to protect an unbeaten start to her new international campaign. Walkden followed up victory at the Serbia Open with another title winning performance at the Swiss Open in Lausanne.
UK Athletics named Paula Dunn as the newly appointed Paralympic Head Coach.
Jessica Ennis’ coach Toni Minichiello was named both High-Performance Coach of the Year and UK Coach of the Year 2012 at the UK Coaching Awards 2012.
The 12-strong shortlist for the 2012 BBC Sports Personality of the Year included 11 Olympic and Paralympic gold medallists: 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 (disability swimming), Sarah Storey (para-cycling), David Weir (disability athletics), Bradley Wiggins (cycling).
December
The British Paralympic Association launched ParalympicsGB SportsFest, a free event for disabled people, with the opportunity to try out different sports, find out how to get involved, and meet some of GB’s Paralympic medal winners.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced the return of international tennis to the London 2012 Olympic Park after leading British charity, the Tennis Foundation, was awarded the rights to stage the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in 2014-2016.
Great Britain’s Daniel Purvis rounded off his incredible year by taking bronze at the 2012 Glasgow World Cup. In front of a capacity crowd at the brand new Emirates Arena, Purvis battled for the medals to the very last piece of apparatus.
Meanwhile in Snowboarding, Britain’s number one Zoe Gillings finished fifth in the first World Cup of the season in Austria.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced that Glasgow, Scotland will host the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships.
Bradley Wiggins was announced 2012 BBC Sports Personality of the Year on 16 December 2012, with Jessica Ennis taking second place and Andy Murray in third.
UK Sport revealed record investment of £347m to support Britain's summer Olympic and Paralympic athletes' preparations for Rio 2016 and beyond, thanks to support from Government and The National Lottery.
