2000: memorable year of triumphs for the UAE

The clock is ticking. And somewhere up there the chair umpire is ready to make that all important announcement of the 2000 sporting year: "Gentleman, Time." The eclipse of this sporting year, now reduced to its final stage, seems like the passing of a moment. Gliding away effortlessly. Or in an athletes parlance 'walking down'.

It is a fine, fierce sprinter's expression, walking down. It makes a few seconds' overtaking seem like the cruel work of hours. But then in reality, it is so. There was hard work, success and disappointment. Some say that is life... ...It is also sport.

We can record that the UAE's sporting levels of success and failure was equal. Both fought for supremacy on the scales resulting in a stalemate. But these two inevitabilities have to be viewed in separation even though both are inter linked to each other.

The UAE recorded achievements not only in the field of sport but also in the more dispassionate confines of the boardrooms where decisions to stamp the countries credentials as a powerhouse in the Middle East sporting scene were taken.

The biggest thrill of the sporting year? Make that thrills... There were no sportsmen or women vying for exclusive honours. The accolades went to, believe it or not, forthcoming events that have been slotted for 2001. And they took up a lot of space.

So here it is: Tiger Woods and the WTA Tour are making their debut in 2001. Is this what we have been waiting for? All in favour say aye. All opposed go back to your coma.

The impending arrival of both the golfer and the women's tennis event gave us a summer that will not be forgotten in a hurry. As if this was not enough, an announcement by the Emirates Racing Association shook the racing world. The prize money for the 2001 Dubai World Cup race card has been increased to $15.25 million. This effectively beats all pretenders, the closest of which was the Breeders Cup, into second place.

Speaking of second place, Dubai Millennium showed the rest of his brethren a clean pair of hooves in a start to finish humbling of his rivals at the Dubai World Cup. But sport can be cruel and a freak injury sent him into a far too premature retirement.