Chris Rattue reviews the stranger stories on the sporting year including Steven Adams suffering a low blow twice and the Peter Snell Olympic singlet that wasn't.
British Paralympic swimmer Josef Craig was disqualified from a European championship race in Portugal because his chest tattoo breached advertising regulations. Thetwist - his offending tattoo depicted the Olympic rings, along with a problematic Lion. (May)
An English Premier League match between Manchester United and Bournemouth was called off because a fake bomb had been left in an Old Trafford toilet after a security firm exercise at the famous ground. Fans were evacuated and army bomb disposal experts blew up the parcel in a "code red" operation. (May)
Drink to this, the wacky story of the year
Leicester were crowned English Premier League champions, almost certainly the craziest triumph in the history of professional sport. Cinderella stories don't get better than this. Leicester are a tiny club of virtually no expectations compared to Chelsea and co. The Foxes, managed by Italian Claudio Ranieri, sit just above the relegation zone in the current season which is where most people believe they belong. Star striker Jamie Vardy, rescued from non-league football, later revealed he drank port out of a Lucozade bottle the night before every game, his good luck charm during the amazing title run.
Low-ish blows
Giant Kiwi basketball star Steven Adams from the Oklahoma City Thunder was kicked in the groin twice during the western conference finals by Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors. "Pretty accurate that guy," said Adams. (May)
Milk shake
Yorkshire cricket coach Jason "Dizzy" Gillespie, a vegan, slammed the dairy industry for treating "animals like s!@#", upsetting the club sponsor - a local creamery. A spokesperson for the firm responded: "I need to understand a bit more about what he's actually trying to say here." Seems pretty clear. (June)
Commentator's curse
"Perfect." That was former manager Steve McLaren's description of England's response, after Iceland's equaliser in football's Euro tournament. McLaren was still rambling on about England dominating the game as Iceland scored the winner. (June)
Dial a dial
Ewald Lienen, the manger of second division German football club St Pauli, couldn't attend the unveiling of new striker Marvin Ducksch. Not to worry. The club put a Lienen face mask on someone else for the traditional publicity shot of the manager presenting a new player with a shirt. Typical German efficiency, having a manager's face mask handy just in case. And who says they have a poor sense of humour? (June)
Rugby history was made when a bomb from English back George Ford hit a spidercam wire at Allianz Stadium. Ref Nigel Owens called play on, deeply upsetting the Wallabies coach Michael Cheika. What a surprise. He usually takes these things so well. Maybe wire-free drones are the answer. (June)
Return to vendor, a dress unknown
Te Papa museum bosses were jubilant over their successful $122,500 bid for Peter Snell's 1964 Olympic double-gold singlet. Slight problem ... subsequent museum inquiries showed it was not Snell's Olympic singlet. Te Papa sent it back to the seller. Snell thought the original was nylon or polyester, while the Te Papa version was cotton. "I am shocked," said Sir Pete from his Texas home. "I'm going to really turn our place inside out to see if I can find the singlet, but I kind of doubt that I'm going to." (June)
Off yer bike, and rocker
Panicking British cycling star Chris Froome jogged/slid in cleats for 100m up Mont Ventoux during the Tour de France, after his bike was wrecked a kilometre from the finish line in a crash caused by a TV motorbike. Froome retained the lead thanks to a commissaire's ruling and went on to win the famous race. "I told myself, 'I don't have a bike and my car is five minutes behind with another bike - it's too far away, I'm going to run a bit'." (July)
Tour de France leader Chris Froome runs while holding his bike after crashing. Photo / AP
Celtic rocked? Apparently not
Hard to believe Celtic were the first British club to win the European Cup. They were beaten 1- 0 by the mighty Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar in the 2016 qualifying round. The Imps won thanks to a goal from a bloke described as a Ministry of Defence police officer. It was former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers' first game in charge of the famous Glasgow club, and he had all the lines. "There is no embarrassment. They were never in command. We were the team with dominance." (August)
Flip
Cronulla Sharks captain Wade Graham called tails as their Monday night NRL thriller against the Gold Coast headed into extra time. When the coin landed heads-up, he claimed to have called heads. Titans skipper Ryan James was furious claiming Graham "lied" and audio backed him up. James said: "Having to flip the coin toss twice at the end when you win it is ridiculous. All [the referee] had to do was go up to the bunker that comes in at every other play." (August)
Drain the swamp
Olympic officials initially claimed the sun caused the water in their Rio pools to turn a murky green. Then it was the wind. Turned out it was caused by a chemical mix up." Of course it is an embarrassment because we are hosting the Olympic Games," a spokesperson said. "It should be light blue, transparent." The pools were refilled. (August)
Only in America
Drunken American Olympic swim star Ryan Lochte and teammates vandalised a gas station then claimed to have been robbed at gunpoint. Lochte reckoned he "over-exaggerated", as if there was a grain of truth to his story. Sponsors dropped him like a brick, but he got a new one - a company which makes crime-preventing personal alarms. (August)
United States' Ryan Lochte checks his time in a men's 4x200-meter freestyle heat during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Photo / AP.
Tide and emotional
As if there wasn't enough rubbish in the Rio water already. France's Aurelie Muller was stripped of the silver medal after grappling with Italy's Rachele Bruni at the end of the 10km swim. Brit Keri Anne Payne, who finished seventh, sympathised: "To be disqualified in the last bit of the race, especially when you've won a medal, is heartbreaking. I can't even imagine how the French girl is feeling."
Raising the bar
Photos of Japanese Olympic pole vaulter Hiroki Ogita appeared to show him knocking the bar off with his penis. Ogita was conflicted, saying "I never expected the foreign media to take me down like this ... but I guess I'm in the spotlight so this might be some kind of opportunity." (August)
False start
Kenyan sprint coach John Anzrah borrowed sprinter Ferguson Rotich's Olympic identification card to get a free breakfast in the athletes' village, and got a lot more than he bargained for. An official ordered the person he thought was Rotich to take a urine test. Rotich quickly informed authorities. (August)
German twins Anna and Lisa Hahner were widely condemned and accused of a publicity stunt for holding hands while crossing the Olympic marathon finish line. One columnist described it as "ingenious self-marketing". The twins said the experience was "magical". (August)
Can't handle bars
Britain's cycling pursuiters, including multiple gold medal winner Laura Trott, needed a good night's sleep before their final, and left the following message for their victorious male counterparts pinned to a village door To the team pursuit men, CONGRATULATIONS! As we're guessing you're probably going to be drunk by the time you read this. And a few of you have already come into our room accidentally - just a friendly reminder that THIS IS NOT YOUR ROOM. So please don't try and get in at 4am.'
