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The final part of our review of some of the main sporting events in 2012.

It was the scandal that rocked the world of sport in 2012.

Seven time Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong, was a drugs cheat.

Armstrong decided that he wouldn’t contest the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s case against him – an admission of guilt to many.

The punishment would be severe.

Pat McQuaid, UCI President:
“The UCI will ban Lance Armstrong from cycling and the UCI will strip him of his seven Tour de France titles. Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling.”

The Medinah Country Club played host to a blockbuster Ryder Cup in September.

Europe were losing 10-6 at the end of the second day.

But the memory of Seve Ballesteros inspired the Jose Maria Olazabal’s Europeans to stun the USA with an unbelievable comeback to win by a single point.

Jose Maria Olazabal, Europe captain:
“Last night, when we got together at the team meeting, all I did was just tell the boys that I still believed that we could turn things around, that all we needed was just to be a little bit more effective on the greens and to make a few more putts, and that would change the tide for us. I think the players believed, and you know, what happened today, I think it will go it will go down in the history books of The Ryder Cup.”

Lionel Messi was busy writing his name into those history books too.

The Barcelona superstar broke Gerd Mueller’s 20 year old record for scoring the most goals in a calendar year.

Messi had netted 90 by December with one match to play in 2012.

Didier Deschamps had a good year too – the 1998 World Cup winner replaced Laurent Blanc as the head coach of France.

There was also a change in the Dutch camp as Louis Van Gaal returned to manage the Netherlands for a second time.

But one man who was out of a job was Roberto Di Matteo.

The Italian was sacked by Chelsea in November, six months after winning the Champions League.

David Beckham was also on his way out as his MLS mission ended.

The former England captain left LA Galaxy after six years with the club and in typical Becks fashion, Galaxy won the MLS Cup in his final match stateside.

Sebastien Vettel continued his domination of F1.

The German clinched his third world championship title and Red Bull won the Constructor’s Championship to top off another great season.

Argentina were finally invited to the rugby union party as they were included in the revamped southern hemisphere Rugby Championship, formerly known as the Tri Nations.

But almost inevitably, the Pumas werent successfuk.

New Zealand won the inaugural trophy with a 100% record.

International cricket returned to Pakistan in October as an international eleven played Pakistan All Stars in Lahore.

The match provided proof that Pakistan was a safe place to play cricket again, three and a half years after the deadly attack on the Sri Lankan team convoy.

In Sri Lanka, the West Indies shocked their hosts to win the T20 World Cup.

NBA Commissioner David Stern provided another surprise in October.

David Stern, commissioner of the NBA:
“I’m stepping down, I’m not retiring.”

In baseball, the San Francisco Giants celebrated their second World Series title in three years.

The Giants enjoyed a stunning post-season, winning six straight elimination games throughout the National League Divisional and Championship Series

But all wasn’t rosy in the NHL as the lock-out continued.

Donald Fehr, Executive director of the NHLPA:
“On the big things there was, as of today, no reciprocity in any meaningful sense, no movement on the players’ share, no movement on salary-arbitration eligibility, no movement on free agency eligibility, no agreement on a pension plan, although they say they’d like to do it, etc.”

Mad Austrian Felix Baumgartner’s record breaking skydive saw him break the sound barrier as reached speeds of 690mph.

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