Dark days and skeletons mark year in sport

17 Dec 2012, 1:28 pm   -   Source: AAP

Australian sport enters the New Year hoping to bury some of its darker days, but first it wants to find out what caused them.

An Olympics clouded by a silver lining; skeletons springing from closets.

Australian sport enters the New Year hoping to bury some dark days - but first it wants to find out what caused them.

Here are the top sport stories of 2012:

LONDON OLYMPICS

Australia arrived bold, but departed with few gold.

The lowest medal haul in 20 years - seven gold, 16 silver and 12 bronze medals - only just secured a seat at the top 10 medal table.

Two tenacious women turned their steel into gold, with hurdler Sally Pearson and sprint cyclist Anna Meares triumphing in fabled fashion.

But only one other Australian won an individual gold, sailor Tom Slingsby in the Laser class.

Sailors also delivered gold in the 470 men and 49er men events, and Australia's kayak four team won the men's 1000m.

But elsewhere, Australians failed to make a splash, especially in the pool where there was no individual Olympic gold medallist for the first time in three decades.

World champion talker and freestyler James Magnussen's bullet-proof persona was pierced and only the women's 4x100m freestyle relay team won gold.

Amid claims of pranksters, social media addicts and lack of leadership, an independent panel has been charged with reviewing the swim program and the sport's governance and administration

The overall result in London left Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates, red-faced after predicting 15 gold medals, ordering a search for answers.

"I am absolutely certain that the sports have to look at themselves, rather than look for more money," he says.

BLACK CAVIAR

The magnificent mare captivated the nation in taking her winning streak to 22 races with a blend of unprecedented horse power and sheer grace.

Black Caviar went from champion to legend to national treasure, as spectators flocked to fill some racecourses for the first time in decades.

The celebrity horse was feted everywhere - she adorned the cover of a women's fashion magazine; had a Lego toy made of her; a range of hair shampoo and conditioner released in her name - for horses, not humans.

Peter Moody's trump went to England's famed Royal Ascot and won, though only just.

"She has nothing left to prove," Moody says.

True, but a glorious autumn farewell tour is in the offing.

IAN THORPE

Australia's most successful Olympian summed it up perfectly: "The fairytale has turned into a nightmare."

Thorpe conceded his image was tarnished by falling flat in his hyped comeback to competitive swimming, when the five-time Olympic gold medallist couldn't make the team for the London Games.

But Thorpe has vowed to swim on while also revealing a long-term battle with depression.

DAMIEN OLIVER

The revered jockey was banned for 10 months after admitting placing a $10,000 bet on another horse in a 2010 race.

The horse he backed won, while he came second on his mount.

The two-time Melbourne Cup-winning jockey claimed it was a spur of the moment gamble during the bleakest period of his life, blaming stress, injury and a marriage break-down for his "misdeed and lack of judgment".

Conveniently, his suspensions ends before next year's Spring Carnival.

THE DRUG CHEATS

Lance Armstrong took down some Australians in a drug-tainted freefall.

The American cyclist gave up fighting doping accusations as damning evidence against him also uncovered doped skeletons in the closet of two top Cycling Australia officials.

Coach Matt White and vice-president Stephen Hodge both quit the sport's governing body after admitting they took drugs during their competitive cycling careers.

Like swimming, Australian cycling is now subject of an independent review.

THE AFL CHEATS

The Adelaide Crows broke AFL salary cap and draft rules in a deal with forward Kurt Tippett they kept secret for three years.

The Crows only came clean after Tippett walked out of the club.

The AFL delivered sanctions including suspending Tippett for the initial 11 games of the 2013 season, banning Adelaide's chief executive Steven Trigg for six months, football operations manager Phil Harper for two months and fining the Crows $300,000.

MICHAEL CLARKE

The Australian Test cricket captain will never again be accused of having more style than substance but his true test awaits.

Clarke turned his image around with an unprecedented run-scoring spree of the highest calibre, becoming the first Test batman to pass 200 four times in a calendar year.

But the series of his life beckons, trying to win back the Ashes on a much-awaited tour of England.

JOEL PARKINSON

World champion and Pipe Master on the one day. In the world of professional surfing it simply doesn't get any better than that.

The 31-year-old Parkinson - so often the bridesmaid to his best mate Mick Fanning or legendary American Kelly Slater - finally claimed his first world title after 12 years on tour.

And he did it at the sport's most iconic venue - Banzai Pipeline on the north shore of Oahu - a surf break dear to the heart of the late Andy Irons, a three-time world champ and close friend of Parko's.

LOW-KEY WORLD BEATERS

Has Australia ever had two lower profile world champions than Daniel Geale and Pete Jacobs?

Boxer Geale unified the middleweight division by defending his IBF title and winning the WBA title with a defeat of German Felix Sturm in September. But still he flies under the Australian sport radar, until his bout with big-mouth Anthony Mundine in Sydney in the New Year.

And Jacobs won the Hawaii ironman triathlon world championship in October - the sixth time in a row an Australian has taken the title.

CASEY STONER

Australia's dual MotoGP world champion retired with glowing tributes and his rarified spot assured when inducted as an official legend of the sport.

Stoner's farewell included another stirring win on home soil, claiming the Australian MotoGP for the sixth successive time, and he now appears certain to try his hand at driving a V8 Supercar.

THE PREMIERS

The Sydney Swans claimed the premiership in the AFL's Melbourne heartland; Melbourne Storm claimed the premiership in the NRL's Sydney heartland.

Brisbane Roar won consecutive A-League crowns, and New Zealand's Chiefs took their first Super Rugby title.

THE HUMAN HEADLINES

Italian soccer megastar Alessandro Del Piero signed a two-year deal with Sydney FC worth $4 million, and almost instantly gave the A-League that much back in free publicity.

Rugby league convert Israel Folau failed to make an on-field impact in the AFL and quit the code.

And in a further twist, Folau has now chosen to have a crack at rugby union with the Waratahs - to the barely-disguised fury of NRL club Parramatta.

Australasian sport's other celebrated code-swapper is Sonny-Bill Williams, who returns to the NRL with the Sydney Roosters.

But before the new season starts, Williams will continue fighting on a February card featuring Australian rugby renegade Quade Cooper.

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