1. Andy Murray (Tennis)
Who would have said after that Wimbledon final heartache that Andy Murray would be a strong contender this year? A man some considered cold, let loose a torrent of emotions on that unfortunate date, broken and damaged. There was talk that he would never recover. Jump ahead to the Olympic final less than 30 days later at the exact same venue, with maybe even more pressure to succeed and again Murray is wiping tears from his eyes, not of sadness but of joy. A gold medal, a finals victory against Roger Federer and the elation of being champion were the spoils of war that day. This is the stuff of fairy-tales or Hollywood screenplays. The proverbial underachiever rallies to surpass all expectations after the lowest point in his career. The character shown in the pursuit of that gold medal would have been enough to put him on this list, but to conquer the world number 1, Novak Djokovic at the US Open final (the first Brit to win a singles Major since Fred Perry in 1936) has to see him as one of the strongest to win this year. He is now the only man to have won gold and the US Open in the same season. Tough choice, right! Please leave a comment on who you think should win this year. And of course who you think should have been represented on the list for the award. Rory McIlroy, for a start, is someone who was extremely close to making it on the list.