Big review of 2016: Andy Murray redeemed a year when sport reflected news

In the space of only four momentous summer days, two leaders were deposed and their legacies reduced to rubble. All known certainties were disassembled and long-established power structures were shaken. It was the summer of 2016 and everything was changing. And in this year, quite unlike any other in memory, sport was not immune to the fierce headwinds buffeting the world, as chaos and controversy bled into athletic endeavours, sometimes with eerie similarity.

It was a year when news seemed to happen at supersonic speeds, no more so than at the end of June. Brexit had caused a political, social and constitutional earthquake, the aftershocks quickly dispatching David Cameron to the political wilderness. Just four days later, the England team staged their own Brexit tribute, exiting Euro 2016 early after a defeat to Iceland, when all of a country's deep-seated insecurities bubbled to the surface across 90 minutes of angst.

It was a demotion on the sporting stage to match that on the international one, and manager Roy Hodgson quickly followed Cameron’s lead. A pre-prepared statement read from a piece of paper in a press conference hall in Nice was not quite a staged address outside Downing Street, but it ended his four-year reign in similarly humiliating fashion. There was a glimpse of fatal hubris in both men too: Cameron in his confidence the referendum argument would be easily won, Hodgson in his decision to accompany assistant Ray Lewington on a cruise on the River Seine instead of scouting Iceland.

Wales and Northern Ireland enjoyed excellent tournaments but England’s disaster captured the tone of the moment rather more appropriately. And the turmoil continued. After Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and finally Theresa May took turns at being leadership frontrunners in Westminster, over at Wembley Stadium, just 10 miles away, Sam Allardyce’s stint in football's top job proved embarrassingly brief, a team of undercover Daily Telegraph reporters and a feverishly-discussed ‘pint of wine’ colluding in his downfall after only one game.

Traditional forms of journalism were still wielding an influence but the media landscape was transformed in 2016 by the virulent spread of fake news. US swimmer Ryan Lochte even concocted a story of his own at the Rio Olympics, fabricating a tale of an armed robbery which was exposed as a hoax and saw him sneak out of Brazil in disgrace. As a sign of the post-facts era the world was hurtling into, it was almost perfect.

And in a year in which the only certainty was uncertainty, and nothing was seemingly beyond possibility, Leicester City winning the Premier League was the most unexpected sporting development of all. It still feels unreal, that when Chelsea fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 against Tottenham were come kind of illusion. But the 5,000-1 dream was realised, and Andrea Bocelli provided the perfect emotional coda with performances of 'Nessun Dorma' and 'Time to Say Goodbye', live at the King Power Stadium, which caused the tear ducts to swell and called on the brain to realise the magnificence of the achievement.

But this was also a year when dreams and icons died. The November plane crash which claimed the lives of 71 people, including 19 members of the Chapecoense team travelling to contest the Copa Sudamericana final, was likely the single most shocking event in sport this year. Cultural pioneers David Bowie and Prince were also taken from us and sport said goodbye to two of its own, the man known as The Greatest and the man who created football as we know it. In March, Johan Cruyff died aged 68 in Barcelona, inviting recognition of the indelible mark he left on the game, and in particular the great teams of the modern era. Muhammad Ali then passed away at 74 of septic shock, on June 3 and thousands packed the streets of Louisville to witness his coffin being driven past, decorating the vehicle with a carpet of flowers as his body wound slowly to its final resting place.

The countless tributes and obituaries put the power of Ali’s politics front and centre. His civil rights campaigning was just as important a thread as his prowess in the ring when it came to appraising the life and work of a man who changed sport, America and the world. Like Bowie, Prince and Cruyff, he meant more than just his body of work in his chosen field. Ali's advocacy for racial equality made him bigger than sport.

And yet, in a year when the Black Lives Matter movement fought to frame arguments around race and young black men were being killed on the streets, some of the reaction to NFL star Colin Kaepernick's national anthem protest, which asked America to hold a big and difficult conversation once again, was proof that the kind of activism Ali preached is more favourably viewed in retrospect, at a safe distance.

In a year of fear, Vladimir Putin’s shadowy influence was sensed across the world, whenever events of import were occurring. From Brexit to the Italian referendum and of course to America, where the FBI and CIA agreed that state-sponsored Russian hackers and propagandists conspired to disrupt the US election and engineer Donald Trump’s path to the White House. In undoubtedly the strangest example of news and sport intersecting in 2016, the same group, Fancy Bears, were held responsible for hacking the Democratic party and WADA, in the leak which prompted searching concerns about Sir Bradley Wiggins’ use of TUEs and provoked the scandal which British Cycling, Team Sky and Sir Dave Brailsford find themselves entangled in at present.

Putin was even called out in person by Irish boxer Michael Conlan after the bantamweight lost his Olympic quarter-final to Vladimir Nikitin in controversial circumstances. In the most electrifying rant of the year, Conlan railed against the judges and the amateur boxing governing body, live on television: "AIBA are cheats, they’re f***ing cheats, simple as that. I’ll never box for AIBA again, they’re cheating b***ards who are paying everybody. I don’t give a f*** if I’m cursing on TV. I was here for Olympic gold, my dream’s been shattered now, and I have a big career ahead of me, and these, they’re known for being cheats and they’ll always been cheats. Amateur boxing stinks, from the core right to the top.” He then turned his ire on the Russian president:

As well as state-sponsored hacking, and allegations of state-sponsored judge tampering, sport saw the full scale of Russia’s state-sponsored doping programme laid bare by WADA’s McLaren report. Tales of destroyed samples and “mouse holes” between rooms at the Sochi Winter Games, amongst other galling details, led to a total ban on Russians competing in athletics at the Olympics, although the IOC lacked the guts to implement it across the board. Part two of the McLaren report made the astonishing claim that over 1,000 Russians benefitted from state-sponsored doping – the biggest drugs scandal sport has ever known, in a year which also saw Maria Sharapova hit with a ban for a doping violation.

Even towards the end of 2016, there was a new nightmare to contend with as football’s sexual abuse scandal erupted, even if its news parallel was the horrifying scale of the Jimmy Savile abuse which came to light four years ago. The Guardian’s fearless journalism, and Andy Woodward’s bravery, has only started to expose the depths of a scandal which will echo deep into 2017 and beyond. This week, police said they had identified 429 victims and 155 “potential suspects”.

And yet, despite all of this, sport in 2016 possessed many redeeming qualities too. Sporting Illustrated even hailed “the best sports year ever” in their latest edition, adorned on the cover by the unmistakable frame of Michael Phelps, who extended his imperial brilliance in the Olympics by moving onto 28 medals in total, and 23 golds. Simone Biles, with her otherworldly gymnastic displays and four golds, and Usain Bolt, with his unprecedented triple-triple in sprinting, also redefined what greatness looks like.

Team GB experienced a similar sensation, capturing second place in the medals table, ahead of China, for the first time since the London Olympics of 1908. Jason Kenny and then fiancée Laura Trott were crowned , the former drawing level with Sir Chris Hoy’s all-time record of six golds and one silver and the latter becoming the most successful British woman in history with four golds. There were too many tales of excellence to chronicle in one place, but Nick Skelton’s equestrian triumph at the age of 58, Mo Farah's double-double and the women’s hockey team winning gold as nine million people willed them on while watching on TV conveyed the breadth of British success. There was no gold for Chris Froome but his third Tour de France triumph earlier in the summer, including his unforgettable ascent of Mont Ventoux on foot, was another reason for British celebration.

This was also a year in which long-standing individual goals were finally realised. As well as further imprinting herself on the cultural moment with a cameo in Beyonce's 'Lemonade' and speaking out about police killings by declaring, 'I won't be silent' on Facebook, Serena Williams equalled Steffi Graf's total with her 22nd Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in June. Only Margaret Court, with 24, now stands in the way of an incredible athlete, who this year was still having to affirm her place in history, citing sexism as a reason why due recognition has been so slow. Nico Rosberg's story is a very different one but he too sought, and obtained, the final validation he needed in beating rival Lewis Hamilton to the Formula One title, before promptly retiring. And Cristiano Ronaldo found new ways to express his greatness as he finally won a trophy with Portugal at Euro 2016 - in a year, no less, when rival Lionel Messi, who became , retired from international football, before promptly rescinding his decision.

Away from teams and stars, this was the year of the fan, too. Ireland supporters notably charmed the whole of France with some winsome behaviour during Euro 2016, a tournament which saw the best (and worst, thanks to England and Russia) of football supporters. Tyres were changed, babies were gently sung to sleep on trains and Abba songs were belted out alongside Swedes. Meanwhile, Will Grigg’s on Fire became the unofficial soundtrack to the tournament thanks to Northern Ireland and the Icelandic thunder clap celebration was its lasting motif.

In America, meanwhile, Juan Martin Del Potro's supporters reduced him to tears on court with their show of admiration during the US Open, a moment the injury-afflicted star said was "bigger than a win in any match", Bill Murray became central to the story as the Chicago Cubs finally ended their World Series jinx after 108 years and in basketball, social-media savvy NBA fans found ever more inventive ways to remind the world that, yes, the Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in the Finals.

But as a tumultuous 2016 in sport, and the world, wound to an end, its greatest redemptive moment arrived. In a year which challenged notions of what Britain is and what it means, exposing frightening divisions in the country, a symbol of true British excellence emerged. Not retrograde appeals to a bygone era or delusional beliefs in the potency of marmalade to sustain an economy, but a kid from Dunblane achieving an impossible dream and ascending to the number one spot in tennis. Completely unthinkable, but it happened. Which could be the tagline for the whole year.

In his annus mirabilis, when he at least seemed impervious to the overall trend of 2016, Andy Murray became a father for the first time in February, won his second Wimbledon in July, his second Olympic title in August, became world number one for the first time in November and ended the year by constructing a record 24-match winning streak and winning the ATP World Tour Finals for the first time too, beating the man he deposed as the best in the world, Novak Djokovic, in the final. Oh, and his football team managed to end their 114-year wait for a trophy.

In a fractured world, which at times appeared to be splintering apart, Murray enjoyed his greatest ever year, finishing in his greatest ever form and consecrating his position as Britain's greatest ever sportsperson. Ahead of a 2017 which could portend more fear and loathing, this at least is an allegory of hope.