• October 21 down the years

Lewis loses out in dramatic style

Kimi Räikkönen pipped Lewis Hamilton to the title © Sutton Images

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2007
The latest dramatic ending to a Formula 1 season. We'd had gearboxes going wrong ( September 3 1950), tyres blowing up (October 26 1986), and assorted shunts (November 13 1994). But this was something else. With two races to go, Britain's Lewis Hamilton led Fernando Alonso by eight points and Kimi Räikkönen by 17. To win the title in China, Hamilton had to finish no worse than a point behind Alonso and six behind Räikkönen. But McLaren kept him out until his tyres were worn, and Räikkönen outbraked him to take the lead. That wasn't terminal, but Hamilton slid off on a wet pit entrance and stranded himself in the gravel. Räikkönen picked up ten points for winning the race, Alonso eight for finishing second. So Hamilton's lead in the Championship was cut to three points, with Räikkönen another four behind Alonso. All set for a nervy showdown in Brazil - with Hamilton apparently the nerviest of the top three.

On the first lap, he was passed by Räikkönen then Alonso, then locked his brakes and slid off, rejoining the race in eighth place. It didn't get any better for him. He'd worked his way back up to sixth when his gearbox slowed him down so much he was in 18th place by the time he restarted his car's computer. Towards the end, it became clear that Hamilton needed to finish at least fifth to become world champion. He managed seventh. Four years earlier, Räikkönen had lost the title to Michael Schumacher by just two points (October 12). Now he'd needed to win both the last two races and hope Hamilton picked up less than three points, which was exactly what happened. Only one point separated the top three drivers. Impossible for a more thrilling finish to a Formula 1 season. Until the following year at the same circuit (November 2).

Remarkably, that one-point margin wasn't the smallest to decide a drivers' Championship. In 1984, Alain Prost looked likely to become world champion for the first time. He won the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring with his nearest rival Niki Lauda fourth, then started the last race in Portugal from second on the grid, while Niki Lauda was back in 11th. And Prost duly went on to win. But Lauda worked his way through to finish second, enough to pinch the title by half a point and become champion for the first time since 1977. Prost won it for the next two years.

Still in 1984 but over in Chicago, Steve Jones of Wales became the last British runner to set a world record in the men's marathon. His 2.08.05 was 13 seconds faster than the time set by Australia's Rob de Castella in 1981 and broke the valiant British record set at the 1983 New York marathon (October 23). Jones had a galling experience in the Chicago race the following year. His world record had been smashed by Olympic champion Carlos Lopes of Portugal, but Jones responded with a tremendous run and a time of 2.07.13 - one second slower than Lopes! It's still the fastest by a British runner.

On the same date in 1979, Grete Waitz of Norway became the first woman to run the marathon in under two-and-a-half hours. The year before, she'd set a world record in her debut at the distance (October 22 1978). Today was only her second marathon, and her time of 2.27.32 broke her record by nearly five minutes. Waitz set a world best in each of her first three marathons (October 26 1980), all of them in New York.

Talking of great marathon runners, Abebe Bikila won his second Olympic gold medal in 1964. When he won in Rome four years before, he set a world record while running barefoot ( September 10). Today he set another one after condescending to put on footwear - and only a few weeks after an appendix operation. Bikila pulled steadily away after 25 kilometres and entered the stadium so fresh that he was doing exercises before anyone else came in. His time of 2.12.11 smashed the world best set by Britain's Basil Heatley earlier that year (June 13). When Heatley arrived at last, he was in third place behind Kokichi Tsuburaya, a Japanese running in Japan. Heatley's sprint finish brought him the silver medal, while Tsuburaya's bronze was Japan's first Olympic medal in track and field since 1936 (August 6). But it wasn't enough for him. When injuries wrecked his career, he killed himself nine months before the 1968 Olympics.

Here in Tokyo, New Zealand superman Peter Snell added gold in the 1500m to the 800m title he'd retained five days earlier. He was boxed at the bell, but Britain's John Whetton let him through on the inside and he powered away to win by 12 yards despite easing up at the end. Silver medallist Josef Odloźil married his country's sporting heroine at the 1968 Olympics (October 23).

Soviet high jump legend Valery Brumel added gold to the silver he'd won when he was 18. As in 1960, he finished ahead of the USA's John Thomas, this time only on countback. Brumel was tired and off form, so 2.18m - ten cm lower than his world record - was enough for gold and silver.

The sprint relay finals produced two stunning and significant anchor legs. In the men's event, the USA passed the baton so clumsily that they were three yards behind at the last changeover. But big Bob Hayes produced one of the iconic finishes, steamrollering his way to a win by the same margin before throwing the baton high in the air. Compare his estimated time of 8.9 seconds with the world record of 10.05 he set in winning the individual 100m ( October 15). The team's 39.06 was another world best.

Laura Robson is tipped for big things © Getty Images

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1968
Another British gold medal in sailing. At the Olympic Games events in Acapulco, Rodney Pattisson won the Flying Dutchman class with Iain Macdonald-Smith. They were disqualified after finishing first in the opening race, then won five in a row. Needing to finish only 24th in the seventh and last, they came in second. Pattisson retained the title four years later (September 8).

2008
Tennis player Laura Robson made her debut on the senior WTA tour. Britain's Australian-born prodigy was 14 years 274 days old when she was given a wildcard into the Fortis Championships in Luxembourg. Drawn against world No. 42 Iveta Benešová, Robson won the first set 6-1 after saving a break point. But the Czech girl upped her game to win the next two 6-2 6-3.

1953
Randolph Turpin's last shot at the world middleweight title. He'd won it from Sugar Ray Robinson in 1951 (July 10), lost it to the great man only two months later (September 12), then worked his way back into contention. When he beat Charles Humez of France for the vacant European title, he was also credited with the continent's version of the world championship. But no-one took the claim very seriously, certainly not in America, where Sugar Ray was still retired and Carl 'Bobo' Olson had taken Robinson the distance. So tonight's fight in Madison Square Garden was for the vacant world title. Randy began it well, catching Olson with two powerful left hooks to the jaw in the first round and another in the second. Turpin was on top throughout the third as well - but then someone turned a switch off. He was later criticised for changing his tactics, but the truth was probably more physical. Turpin was three pounds under the middleweight limit, a sure sign of his struggle to make the weight. The previous year, he'd won the British title - at light-heavyweight, which was what he was turning into. In that fight, Turpin knocked down Don Cockell three times - and Cockell later fought Rocky Marciano for the world heavyweight title (May 16 1955). But here against Olson, Turpin's punches lacked something and his resistance was low. As early as the fourth round, his knees buckled from a right hand, and he emerged from a clinch with a cut under his eye. Olson knocked him down in the ninth and 10th rounds, and only Turpin's famous courage saw him through to the end, when the points decision was easy to make. Bobo went on to lose to Archie Moore for the light-heavyweight title, and he was only keeping the middleweight throne warm: Robinson knocked him out twice on his comeback. Meanwhile there was nothing but a slippery slope for Turpin. He lost his European title in less than a round (May 2 1954) and killed himself in 1966 (May 17).

2000
Mismatches abound in international rugby league, where very few countries play to any standard. Witness today's game in Florida, where England met the USA for the first time. The match was played in four quarters instead of two halves, which didn't save the Americans from the expected hammering. England won 110-0, and there were 20 tries for 12 different players, including five for Kris Radlinski and three for Leon Pryce. Their captain Andy Farrell kicked seven goals before handing over to Paul Deacon, who kicked eight.

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