Story highlights
Lance Armstrong's confession tops the year's sporting moments
Team USA Oracle in comeback of the year
Treble winning Bayern Munich ranked as best team of 2013
Andy Murray ended Britain's 77-year wait for a men's singles Wimbledon champion
The end is near and the credits are about to roll – but we’re not done with 2013 just yet.
There’s still time for you to get involved and tell us your top sporting moments over the past 12 months.
While we’ve put our heads together and come out with our own top 10, we’d love to hear from you.
So get in touch on Twitter by tweeting @Masters_JamesD with your thoughts on another stellar sporting year.
Confession of the year – Lance Armstrong
He was a hero and role model to millions across the globe but Lance Armstrong’s world came crashing down in January after admitting to using testosterone and human growth hormone, as well as EPO – a hormone naturally produced by human kidneys to stimulate red blood cell production.
The confession, made to U.S. talk show host Oprah Winfrey in January, led to condemnation from millions and saw Armstrong stripped of his seven Tour de France titles.
Read: Armstrong admits to using performance enhancing drugs
Shocking story of the year – Oscar Pistorius
Heralded as an inspiration to athletes across the world just a year earlier, Oscar Pistorius’ fall from grace was as rapid as it was shocking.
A star of the London Olympic Games, Pistorius, nicknamed the “Blade Runner” for the special prostheses he uses for sprinting, was arrested by South African police after admitting to shooting girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day.
He said it was an accident and will go on trial in March 2014 charged with murder.
Read: Pistorius to face murder charge
Winning moment of the year – Andy Murray
A year after crying his eyes out on Wimbledon’s Centre Court, Andy Murray finally ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s singles champion in July.
Murray defeated Novak Djokovic in a pulsating final to win his second grand slam and erase the pain of the defeat to Roger Federer 12 months earlier.
After winning Olympic gold on the same tennis court at London 2012, Murray ensured his place in the nation’s sporting history.
Read: Britain’s Murray wins Wimbledon
Goodbye of the year – Alex Ferguson
After 26 years, 13 domestic league titles, two European Champions League crowns, five FA Cups and four League Cups, Alex Ferguson brought down the curtain on his illustrious managerial career in May.
Ferguson, who won 38 trophies during his tenure at Manchester United, led the club to the English Premier League title in his final season before stepping down.
The Scot, the most successful British manager in the history of the game, bid farewell to Old Trafford following a period of unparalleled success.
Team of the year – Bayern Munich
It was the year that German football left the watching world in a trance as both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund reached May’s European Champions League final.
Bayern, beaten in the 2012 final in its own stadium by Chelsea, triumphed 2-1 at Wembley and went on to win the treble after claiming the Bundesliga title and German domestic cup.
The German team’s form in the past few months has been nothing short of sensational, winning 14 of its 16 league games to sit top of the league going into the winter break as well as qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League.
Read: Redemption for Bayern Munich in Champions League
Comeback of the year – Oracle Team USA
Never before in the 162-year history of the America’s Cup had any race captured the imagination quite like the contest between Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team New Zealand.
Trailing 8-1, defending champion Oracle came back from the abyss to win 9-8 in the final race in San Francisco.
It was the comebacks of all comebacks as the Americans, who were deducted two points before the opening race for placing lead pellets in their catamarans to gain extra weight, prevailed in dramatic fashion.
Read: Oracle Team USA wins America’s Cup
Goodbye of the year – Sachin Tendulkar
He was not just a cricket player – he was a god.
After 200 Test matches, 100 international centuries, Sachin Tendulkar waved goodbye to his adoring legion of fans in his home city of Mumbai in November.
“The Little Master,” as he is affectionately known, is not just the highest run scorer in both the five-day and limited-overs formats of cricket, he is a global icon of the game.
With a net worth of about $160 million from endorsements, property and cricket earnings, according to Singapore-based Wealth X, Tendulkar is cricket’s richest player.
Read: Tearful farewell for Tendulkar
Domination of the year – Sebastian Vettel
Can anybody stop Sebastian Vettel?
The 26-year-old German clinched a record-equaling fourth consecutive Formula One drivers’ title in October, with three races to spare.
By season’s end he had won 13 races to equal the record of most victories in one campaign, set by compatriot Michael Schumacher in 2004.
Vettel joined Schumacher, Juan Manuel Fangio and Alain Prost as a four-time champion and will be favorite to win a fifth in 2014.
Read: Vettel clinches fourth straight world title
Heartwarming tale of the year – Zahir Belounis
After a two-year struggle to leave Qatar following a pay dispute, French-Algerian footballer Zahir Belounis returned home to Paris.
Belounis, who had endured a bitter struggle to secure an exit permit from the Gulf state, had previously threatened to go on hunger strike and spoken of suicide.
The 33-year-old wrote an open letter to Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola and France legend Zinedine Zidane to help gain publicity for his cause.
Not long after, he was granted his exit permit following a media campaign.
Read: ‘Stranded’ footballer back in Paris after Qatar nightmare
History makers of the year – European Solheim Cup team
For the very first time, Europe’s women’s golf team managed to do something which had always eluded them – they won on American soil.
Liselotte Neumann’s Europeans, needing just three and a half points from the final day’s play to retain the trophy they won in Ireland two years ago, won five and halved four of 12 singles matches to complete an 18-10 victory.
It was 17-year-old Charley Hull who stole the show on the last day in Colorado in August – recording an astonishing 5 & 4 win over 2010 U.S. Open champion and world No. 11 Paula Creamer.
So what did we miss?
Should we have included the Boston Red Sox winning the World Series? The Chicago Blackhawks triumphing in the Stanley Cup? Bosnia and Herzegovina qualifying for the World Cup? Or the British and Irish Lions securing a first Test series win in 16 years against Australia?
Let us know your thoughts and what you’re looking forward to in 2014. Join the debate with James Masters on Twitter.