The best of world sports in 2008

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2008 will go down as one of the best years for international sports in recent memory. From Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt and Yelena Isinbayeva's stellar performances at Beijing to Rafael Nadal's domination of men's tennis to Lance Armstrong's announcement of staging a comeback to competitive cycling, there was enough action to keep the sports enthusiast hooked. We take a look at a few such sporting moments ...

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Jamaica's "Bolt of Lightning" lived up to the billing of being the world's fastest man as he shattered his own world record in the 100 metres at teh 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. He also won the 200 metres in world record time to become the first male sprinter since Carl Lewis in 1984 to achieve the 100m-200m double at the Summer Olympics. Bolt was a sight on the track as he left the competition trailing as he easily crossed the finishing line. He also set a world recaord in the 4x100 metres relay at 37.10 seconds with his Jamaican teammates in Beijing. Bolt capped off a memorable year by winning the IAAF Male Athlete of the year and a Special Olympic Award for his performances at Beijing.

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Vaulter par excellence

Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva showed once again that she is the undisputed queen of her sport. Not satisfied with being ensured of the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Games, Isinbayeva decided that she would attempt to break her own world record in front of a packed house at the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing. She failed in her first two attempts, but was successful in clearing 5.05 metres in her third and final try to set yet another world record. During the season the Russia raised her own world record in the pole vault three times, first to 5.03 metres in Rome and 5.04 in Monaco in June and then at Beijing - her 24th world best mark. Isinbayeva was named female athlete of the year by the International Association of Athletics Federations.

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Driving into the record books

Lewis Hamilton just missed becoming the world champion in 2007 -- his debut year on the Formula One Circuit. But, in 2008, the McLaren-Mercedes driver ensured there wouldn't be a repeat as he held off Ferrari's Felipe Massa to be crowned world champ at the age of 23 to become the youngest champion in F1 history. Hamilton had to wait until the last race of the season to be crowned world champion, but he managed to pip Massa to the post by only one point. Hamilton, who is also the first "black driver" in Formula One, has pledged that he will stay with McLaren for the remainder of his F1 career.

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Epic final

When a former world No 1 and an acclaimed tennis pundit like John McEnroe describes a match as the "greatest he has ever seen", one can be assured that the contest in question would have been momentous. And, the match McEnroe is talking about -- the Wimbledon 2008 men's singles final between five-time defending champion Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal was most deserving of such a compliment. The match which had a playing time of 4 hours and 48 minutes got off to a delayed start and was twice interrupted by rains, which meant by the time Nadal dislodged Federer as Wimbledon champion, it was 9.16pm (local time). For the record, Nadal won this humdinger of a match 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7.With the win, Nadal became the first man since Bjorn Borg to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year, and also the first Spaniard to have won the Wimbledon title since Manuel Santana, who was champion in 1966.