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After the London Olympics of 2012, it seemed at the start of this year that topping those events was an impossible task.
However, 2013 has been another vintage year for British sport - while there have been some remarkable feats further afield.
Andy Murray finally ending the wait for a British singles winner at Wimbledon and Chris Froome following in Bradley Wiggins' trail to win the Tour de France are just a couple of the incredible achievements this year.
But for all the successes of 2013, there have also been some incredible lows. And they came no lower than when Lance Armstrong admitted to doping during all seven of his Tour de France victories.
And any summation of the year would be incomplete without a mention for Sir Alex Ferguson who bowed out in fitting style with Manchester United winning the Premier League title yet again.
Here, we've collated the 100 greatest sporting moments of the year.
See the gallery below for moments 1-20, which includes an incredible victory for Wales over England in the Six Nations, Oscar Pistorious in the dock and Swansea lifting a trophy at Wembley. For the other 80 moments, click the links further down the page.
Show all 20 1 /20The 100 sporting moments of 2013 - 1-20 The 100 sporting moments of 2013 - 1-20 JANUARY<br/>
Djokovic and Azarenka rule down under<br/>
Novak Djokovic came from a set down to beat Andy Murray at the Australian Open. The superb Serbian swept away Murray in sets 3 and 4 to record his fourth Slam in Melbourne and his third on the bounce. In the women's final Victoria Azarenka overcame Li Na in three sets to win her second Australian Open in as many years. GETTY IMAGES
The 100 sporting moments of 2013 - 1-20 JANUARY <br/>
Messi wins Ballon d'Or, again<br/>
Lionel Messi won his fourth straight Ballon d'Or title, the only player in history to do so, beating Cristiano Ronaldo to the top spot once again. The Barcelona star breezed past Gerd Muller's calendar year goalscoring record and set a whole manner of new records in a truly astonishing year for the little Argentinian master. GETTY IMAGES
The 100 sporting moments of 2013 - 1-20 JANUARY<br/>
McGinley to captain European Ryder Cup team<br/>
After the miracle comeback by the European team in Medinah in 2012, Paul McGinley was given the task of captaining the holders in the 2014 competition. Team USA will travel to Gleneagles under the captaincy of legendary Tom Watson when the greatest rivalry in golf resumes. GETTY IMAGES
The 100 sporting moments of 2013 - 1-20 JANUARY<br/>
The Prem's loss is Italy's gain<br/>
Mario Balotelli completed a £19m move away from Manchester City to join AC Milan in the January transfer window. The mercurial talent who gave us so many talking points during his three year spell at the Etihad proved a sore miss to English football and will be for years to come. A mixture of sublime skill and raw power and utter nonsense off the pitch, he is now Milan's wonderful headache. GETTY IMAGES
The 100 sporting moments of 2013 - 1-20 JANUARY<br/>
That bloody ball-boy<br/>
With Chelsea drawing 0-0 at Swansea late into the game, the ball went out of play and into the arms of a ballboy. What happened next was quite frankly ridiculous. The (17-year-old) ballboy fell on the ball, shielding it underneath him. An incensed and frustrated Eden Hazard then kicked out trying to retrieve it, causing the ballboy to fane an injury with such perfection it would make even the most frequent of divers blush. Utter stupidity all round. GETTY IMAGES
The 100 sporting moments of 2013 - 1-20 JANUARY<br/>
Armstrong admits to Oprah<br/>
Everyone knew it anyway but Lance Armstrong finally admitted to using performance enhancing drugs in a personal and utterly absorbing interview with Oprah Winfrey. The doping case that surrounded the former cycling legend was finally revealed for everyone to know. Armstrong was stripped of all seven of his Tour de France titles and his reputation will lie in tatters for ever more. GETTY IMAGES
The 100 sporting moments of 2013 - 1-20 FEBRUARY <br/>
Super Eagles soar at the Africa Cup of Nations<br/>
The 29th Africa Cup of Nations, held in South Africa, saw Nigeria win their third title. They beat Mali 4-1 in the semi-final to set up a showdown against Burkina Faso who beat Ghana on penalties in theirs. Sunday Mba's goal was enough to claim victory in the final and send the Soccer City Stadium into a frenzy of celebratory noise and colour. GETTY IMAGES
The 100 sporting moments of 2013 - 1-20 FEBRUARY <br/>
Ruthless Australia win Women's Cricket World Cup<br/>
India played host to the Women's Cricket World Cup where the stars of the show were undoubtedly Australia. After breezing through their group, the Aussie women negotiated the tricky Super Six stage of the competition with aplomb. Beating England by the smallest of margins and losing just once throughout the tournament, Australia met the West Indies in the final. Jess Cameron's 75 and Ellyse Perry's 3 for 19 completed a dominant performance from the Baggy Green women to lift the trophy. GETTY IMAGES
The 100 sporting moments of 2013 - 1-20 FEBRUARY <br/>
Lights go out on the 49ers as Ravens win<br/>
The Baltimore Ravens emerged victorious in the pulsating Super Bowl XLVII. MVP Joe Flanco threw three touchdown passes to complete a memorable 34-31 win over the San Francisco 49ers. Complete with Beyonce's halftime extravaganza and the stadium being plunged into darkness at the start of the second half, the New Orleans' Super Bowl had it all. GETTY IMAGES
The 100 sporting moments of 2013 - 1-20 FEBRUARY <br/>
Swansea win the League Cup <br/>
Swansea City beat Bradford 5-0 at Wembley in the final of the League Cup, securing their first major title in the process. There was no fairy tale story for Bradford, who beat Wigan, Arsenal and Aston Villa in previous rounds with the final proving a step too far in completing the most unlikely and incredible of cup runs. Two goals each from Nathan Dyer and Jonathan de Guzman and a fifth from Michu rounding off a perfect day for the Michael Laudrup's Welsh side. GETTY IMAGES
The 100 sporting moments of 2013 - 1-20 FEBRUARY <br/>
Team GB top the medals table <br/>
Team GB's cyclist continued to dominate their field by finishing top of the Track Cycling World Championships medal table. In total Great Britain won 9 medals, 5 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze with victories going to Olympic star Jason Kenny and a brace of golds for Becky James. GETTY IMAGES
The 100 sporting moments of 2013 - 1-20 FEBRUARY <br/>
Oscar Pistorius <br/>
In one of the most shocking, unexpected and unprecedented sporting stories of 2013, Oscar Pistorius' place in history will now go down for completely the wrong reason. Just months after rewriting the record books by competing in the full Olympics in spite of his disability, Pistorius was charged with the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. A double gold medal winner in London, Pistorius told courts how he had not meant to shoot her, mistaking her for an intruder. Whatever the truth is, Blade Runner's career will be forever remembered as much for this grizzly tale as anything he has accomplished on the track. GETTY IMAGES
EPA
The 100 sporting moments of 2013 - 1-20 MARCH<br/>
Kimi Raikkonen kicks off the new F1 season in style<br/>
The 2013 F1 season went off with a bang as Kimi Raikkonen won the Australia Grand Prix, making up seven places from his grid position in a thrilling opening weekend. The 64th season of Formula One saw the last year that the V8 engine, used since 2006, would be in operation and a host of driver changes. The Melbourne race saw Lewis Hamilton's first race for Mercedes, Sergio Perez replacing him at McLaren and young British driver Max Chilton making his F1 bow for Marussia. The opening race itself saw Raikkonen win by 12 seconds from Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, beginning his title defence, finishing third. GETTY IMAGES
The 100 sporting moments of 2013 - 1-20 MARCH<br/>
Wales roar to Six Nations success<br/>
Not since 1978/79 had Wales won back-to-back Nations Championships but 2013 proved to be the year they would do it again and do it in style. After making a dismal start with a home defeat to Ireland, Wales rallied and didn't put another foot wrong. With England matching them stride for stride, the championship came down to the last weekend. If a cagey, low scoring game was expected to follow, Wales did the complete opposite, beating England by their biggest ever scoreline to retain the trophy. GETTY IMAGES
The 100 sporting moments of 2013 - 1-20 MARCH<br/>
Oxford win the Boat Race<br/>
After the drama of the 2012 race which saw a protestor bob up between the two boats, narrowly escaping decapitation and one of the rowers needing emergency treatment after collapsing at the end, this year's Boat Race was back to relative norm. Oxford took the bragging rights in the 159th edition of the historic race, taking victory by one and a third lengths. GETTY IMAGES
The 100 sporting moments of 2013 - 1-20 MARCH<br/>
Rory McIlroy quits the Honda Classic <br/>
In a somewhat forgettable year for Rory McIlroy a low point will be his memories of the Honda Classic. After dropping seven shots in eight holes the Irish former world number one quit, citing toothache for the reason for him not being able to continue. Amid stories of personal relationship problems and his game in disarray, this tournament marked the bottom of the barrel for McIlroy and surely he cannot wait for 2013 to come to a swift end. GETTY IMAGES
The 100 sporting moments of 2013 - 1-20 MARCH<br/>
Out of the Woods and number one once again<br/>
The well documented personal life of Tiger Woods seems to have been put behind him and his golfing genius is once again shining through. Following victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Woods reclaimed the world's top spot. GETTY IMAGES
The 100 sporting moments of 2013 - 1-20 MARCH<br/>
Jesse Ryder's horrific bar brawl<br/>
New Zealand batsmen Jesse Ryder has had to endure a hell of a year. Banned for taking illegal weight loss pills, making a century on his return to cricket and now on his way back to the national side, Ryder's year included the most horrific of events. In the car park of a fast food restaurant outside a Christchurch bar, a fight broke out that would leave Ryder in a coma. Suffering a fractured skull and a collapsed lung, the Kiwi opener was put into intensive care but thankfully made a full recovery. GETTY IMAGES
The 100 sporting moments of 2013 - 1-20 APRIL<br/>
Encore, Encore!<br/>
Auroras Encore strode to a nine length victory at the 166th Grand National. The 66-1 outsider, trained by Sue Smith and ridden by Ryan Mania, won to the delight of lucky punters. 17 of the 40 runners finished the race, with Cappa Bleu coming in runner up and Teaforthree in third place. GETTY IMAGES
The 100 sporting moments of 2013 - 1-20 APRIL<br/>
Different fortunes for British boxers<br/>
On a bumper boxing night late in April the careers of three of Britain's boxing stars, past, present and future, were on show. First, Olympic champ Anthony Ogogo made swift work of Kieron Gray inside two rounds on his pro debut, then Andley Harrsison's career took another sorry blow after defeat in the first round and finally Amir Khan showed his class coming through a tough test against Julio Diaz to win by unanimous decision.
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<p><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/the-100-greatest-sporting-moments-of-2013--120-9022529.html">Moments 1-20</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/the-100-greatest-sporting-moments-of-2013--2140-9022535.html">Moments 21-40</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/the-100-greatest-sporting-moments-of-2013--4160-9022539.html">Moments 41-60</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/the-100-greatest-sporting-moments-of-2013--6180-9022547.html">Moments 61-80</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/the-100-greatest-sporting-moments-of-2013--81100-9022551.html">Moments 81-100</a></p> GETTY IMAGES
Moments 21-40
Moments 41-60
Moments 61-80
Moments 81-100
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