Year In Review: Sports hits and misses of 2016

HITS: Wayde van Niekerk, Caster Semenya, Luvo Manyonga, Mamelodi Sundowns, Brad Binder. Proteas cricket team, SA Paralympic team, Kagiso Rabada, Temba Bavuma, Ntando Mahlangu.

MISSES: The Springboks and Bafana Bafana

It was thankfully a year of more highs than lows in South African sport, as sport and politics inevitably collided along the way and sports administrators queued up to take the pats on the back.

But, as always, South African sportsmen and women carried the flag with pride and dignity, swatting aside all the obstacles and issues prevailing in our sports space and succeeding despite the accompanying side shows.

ALSO READ: Year In Review: Nothing like a good quote to put 2016 into perspective

The biggest disappointment of the year was undoubtedly seeing two of the nation's biggest and most popular national brands, the Springboks and Bafana Bafana, performing well below par. 

The biggest highs of the year emanated from the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and will leave lingering memories for many years to come.

Wayde van Niekerk just kept piling up the accolades in 2016.

The multi-disciplined Van Niekerk is the first and only person in history to run faster than 10 seconds in the 100 metres, 20 seconds in the 200 metres and 44 seconds in the 400 metres.

In the 2016 Olympics in Rio he won gold in the men's 400 in a world record time of 43.03 seconds, shattering the long standing world record (43.18) held since 1999 by Michael Johnson.

Aged just 24, barring injury, it's frightening to think what the Bloemfontein-based star can still accomplish.

Re-live that magic night in Rio right here:

Caster Semenya captured the 800 metre gold at the Rio Olympics.

But that was just the pinnacle of a remarkable year for the Potchefstroom-based athlete, who has spent her entire career embroiled in gender-based controversy.

Semenya calmly and with great humility, ignored the storm clouds that always gathered around her gender status. In April she obliterated her opposition to become the first person to ever claim victory in the 400, 800 and 1500 metre events at the SA National Championships.

She set world-bests in the first two events and shattered her own SA record in July.

In August she won gold in the women's 800 metres at the Rio Olympics in 1:55.28.

Share Caster Semenya's golden moment in Rio again:

Luvo Manyongra was, in our estimation, one of the big good news sports stories of the year, the type of story that blockbuster movies are often based on.

His story, alongside Van Niekerk and Semenya's Olympic glory, was one of the most spoken about stories of the 2016 Olympic Games.

Manyonga rose above adversity to win silver in the long jump at the Rio Olympics. He had posted the best leap of 8.37 metres, but watched in dismay as the American Jeff Henderson captured gold in his final jump by a single centimetre.

In 2012 his life had spiralled out of control when he tested positive for traces of 'TIK' (methamphetamine) at the SA Champs and he was slapped with a two-year ban.

He escaped the drug-ravaged Western Cape, started a new life away from the temptations of drug abuse and returned to competitive athletics in 2016. 

The rest is history - He made the most of his second chance in life and now has an Olympic medal to show for his efforts.

Mamelodi Sundowns reached the pinnacle of African soccer by capturing the prestigious CAF African Champions League title, only the second South African club behind Orlando Pirates to do so.

Having being re-admitted to the prestigious continental club competition via the back door, the Brazilians went on to claim a 3-1 aggregate victory over Egyptian giants Zamalek in the two-legged final, to bag the hefty R20 million booty.

The country's football fans buried their differences and the nation got behind Masandawana.

Watch as 'Downs celebrate their incredible victory in a near-deserted stadium in Alexandria, Egypt.

Brad Binder gave South Africans another big reason to celebrate sporting excellence in 2016 by capturing the Moto3 world championship.

The 21-year-old South African became the first South African to win a motorcycling Grand Prix title in 36 years.

He wrapped up the title with a second place finish at the Aragon Circuit in Spain in October aboard his KTM Red Bull bike.

The last South African rider to win a Grand Prix title was Jon Ekerold, who won the 350cc title way back in 1980.

Watch this amazing highlights compilation of Brad Binder's world championship-winning season:

SA Paralympic Team came home to a hero's welcome as they raked up 17 medals - seven gold, six silvers and four bronze -- at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio, to end 22nd overall on the medal table.

While there were always individual accomplishments, Team SA were hailed as a collective and medal winners also rewarded with financial incentives and bonuses like their able-bodied counterparts.

Charl du Toit (double gold in the Hilton Langenhoven (Gold men's long jump T12 & men's 200 m T12) and Charl du Toit (men's 100 m T37 & men's 400 m T37) were the multiple medal winners.

Du Toit shattered the world record in the 100 metre T37 dash in a time of 11.42 seconds.

Much like Luvo Manyonga's incredible story in the Olympics just a few weeks prior, 14-year-old schoolboy NTANDO MAHLANGU captured the hearts of the nation with a silver medal in the men's 200 metre T42.

From the low of losing a home Test Series to England, to the ultimate high of a home ODI whitewash and an away Test Series victory over Australia, the PROTEAS CRICKET TEAM flag is flying high as the leading national side at present, while Bafana Bafana and the Springboks' flags remain at half-mast.

But it wasn't an easy road to regain pride and the faith of a nation after a dark period which saw them being dumped out of the ICC T20 Championship and a home Test Series loss to England.

Enter Faf du Plessis. In the absence of Test and ODI captain AB de Villiers, Du Plessis took the captaincy reins and led the Proteas to emphatic Series victories in the ODI format and the first Test Series triumph on Australian soil for 16 years.

With de Villiers struggling to recover fully from a lingering elbow injury and with key strike bowler Dale Steyn ruled out, Du Plessis was appointed as the permanent Test skipper, with the former set to return for the ODI Series against Sri Lanka next year.

It was a year in which KAGISO RABADA and TEMBA BAVUMA anchored themselves in the Test team and deserve an honourable mention. Bavuma became the first black African cricketer to score a Test century in the second Test against England in January.

Sadly the biggest miss of 2016 was the Springboks.

In coach Allister Coetzee's first season in charge, the Boks lost at home to Ireland for the first time, in Argentina for the first time, were on the receiving end of their biggest ever home defeat by the All Blacks (57-15) and were humiliated 20-18 by World Rugby lightweights Italy for the first time.

Coetzee's overall return in his maiden season was Won - 4, Lost - 8, including the first winless year-end tour since 2002 and a first defeat by England on English soil in 10 years.

A record 27-13 loss to Wales in their final European tour match saw the Boks add to their list of 2016 low's by equalling their worst ever World Rugby Ranking of 6th place.

Can it get any worse and cam one of the proudest brands in South African sport stoop any lower in 2017?

Here is arguably when the Boks stooped to one of the lowest points in their history against Italy.

MISS: Bafana Bafana drifted in and out of the hit and miss columns, but on the basis of being eliminated from the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Gabon early next year, they remained in the 'miss' column.

The national soccer team are still in the habit unfortunately of winning when it least matters and their final group match - a 4-nil win over Gambia - proved futile as they were shown the nearest exit door.

A 3-1 defeat to less-fancied Mauritania started their demise but a sequence of dull draws underlined their inability to score goals and it ultimately cost them their place in the Gabon 2017 draw.

The mother body SAFA have been plagued by internal politics and to date the future of suspended coach Shakes Mashaba is still unclear following his suspension earlier this year.

MISS: Match fixing in cricket reared its ugly head yet again in the South African game and made international news.

Former Highveld Lions batsman Goolam Bodi, Thami Tsolekile, Ethy Mbhalati, Pumelelo Matshikiwe and Jean Symes all received varying lengthy bans from the game for their involvement in match-fixing during the now defunct domestic RAM Slam T20 Challenge.

Cricket South Africa sprang into action and a thorough investigation which involved the SAPS, the Hawks and various independent forensic experts took place in line with their strong Anti-Corruption Code.

Another player, former Proteas batsman Alviro Petersen, who continued to maintain his innocence, also stands accused and remains provisionally suspended.

JACARANDA FM SPORTS PERSON OF THE YEAR: Wayde van Niekerk

BIGGEST HITS OF 2016: Undoubtedly English Premier League 'Cinderella' team Leicester City and British tennis star Andy Murray.

Already a two-time winner, the Scot rose to the top of his sport, finishing as tennis number one - and with titles at Wimbledon, the Olympics and the ATP World Tour Finals to boot.

The All Blacks  chalked up a record-equalling unbeaten run of 17 matches on the trot.

The Fiji Sevens Rugby team won the World Rugby Sevens Series and Olympic Sevens double.

R.I.P: 

'The Greatest' - Muhammad Ali - Called the 'most famous human on the planet' left us in 2016. He was 74.

Arnold Palmer - Died aged 87. Part of the Big 3 - Palmer-Nicklaus-Player, one of the greatest champions in the game of golf.

Tony Cozier - West Indian cricket commentator/journalist Tony Cozier, died aged 75. An affable person and respected pundit who became a household name to radio and television audiences worldwide.

Gugu Zulu - The South African rally driver died trying to summit Mt Kilimanjaro to mark Mandela Day. Zulu was part of an expedition, including his wife Letshego Zulu, who were part of the Trek4Mandela expedition.