• October 24 down the years

Hunt triumphs in dramatic style

James Hunt's stock rose considerably when he won the Formula 1 world title © Getty Images

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1976
Britain's James Hunt won the Formula 1 world title. A rollercoaster season ended with the utmost drama in Japan. Hunt's McLaren had been disqualified for technical infringements after winning the British and Spanish Grands Prix. He got the nine points back from Spain after an appeal (May 2) - which made all the difference. That and the terrible accident which left Niki Lauda with permanent facial burns (August 1) gave Hunt enough points to challenge for the title. He picked up nine for winning that German Grand Prix and another nine in Holland, one of the two races Lauda missed. When the reigning champion came back, he picked up points on Hunt in Italy but couldn't stop him winning in Canada and the USA. Even with this resurgence, Hunt was still three points behind Lauda going into the last race. But then the weather came to his aid. Torrential rain and more torrential rain. The race should have been stopped and postponed - conditions were dangerous as well as impossible, and Hunt drove virtually blind into a blanket of mist and spray. Lauda, with his new perspective on life, decided the risk was too great and dropped out after the first lap: "Sometimes I did not know in which direction the car was travelling. For me, there is something more important than the world championship." Now Hunt needed at least third place to win the title. He took an early lead - but as his tyres wore down, McLaren wanted him to make the decision when to come in for a wheel change. Hunt wanted them to make it as usual, so he gesticulated furiously every time he passed the pits. Eventually he pulled in after 69 laps. At the end of the race, he didn't know where he'd finished, but he was convinced his team had let him down, so he gave McLaren team leader Teddy Mayer a mouthful. Then a grinning Mayer held up three fingers, and Hunt realised he was champion by a single point. Mario Andretti won the race, his first victory in Formula 1 for five years. Lauda regained the title in 1977 and would have won it in Hunt's year but for those trials by fire and water.

1999
The day Jannie de Beer dropped in on England. Once South Africa had won their opening match in this World Cup, against Scotland at Murrayfield, they were virtually guaranteed a place in the quarter-finals. Once England had lost to New Zealand at Twickenham, they were condemned to an extra match (October 20), which took something out of them before today's match with the reigning champions, who'd had four more days of rest. England's relative weariness made a difference, but not as big as de Beer, who was successful with all 12 of his kicks at goal. Those included an incredible five drop goals, which broke the previous world record of three. His 34 points are still the most by any player in a match against England. The drop goals were the result of a deliberate ploy, not just five bursts of opportunism. South Africa knew they were unlikely to land any from first-phase, so they brought Pieter Müller in from the centre to tie in the England back row, giving de Beer more time and space. England coach Clive Woodward made the controversial decision to go with Paul Grayson's experience at fly-half instead of 20-year-old Jonny Wilkinson, who'd scored a lot of points against the minor teams. But Wilko wouldn't have matched Jannie today, and England were too tired and one-dimensional to break down the Springbok defence. They were only 16-12 behind at half-time, and they kicked their goals: Grayson six penalties, Wilkinson one as a sub. But South Africa scored two tries to go with de Beer's boot and cruised into a semi-final against Australia's equally strong defence (October 30). Judge me on the World Cup, Woodward had said. Luckily his bosses didn't. He was still there when England played South Africa in the next World Cup (October 18 2003).

In the other two quarter-finals played today, Argentina's reward for beating Ireland (October 20) was a meeting with France in Paris after only four days of rest. They acquitted themselves very well again, recovering from 27-10 down to trail only 27-20 at half-time and 30-26 with 15 minutes to go. Gonzalo Quesada continued his success by kicking both conversions and two penalties to finish the tournament with 102 points. But that extra play-off match told in the end. As Argentina tired, the talented French backs scored two of their five tries in a 47-26 win.

Meanwhile, for the third time in the first four World Cups, Scotland drew New Zealand in the quarter-finals. For the third time, they lost - but again with honour. Like Argentina against France, they scored two tries but couldn't hold the opposition backs. They concentrated their defence on the giant Jonah Lomu, but he scored a try anyway, and Tana Umaga scored two on the other wing as Scottish attention was diverted elsewhere. New Zealand led 25-3 at half-time and 30-6 after an hour - and Scotland's two tries, one of them in injury time, only distorted the final score to 30-18. Next up for the All Blacks: a French team that was surely quivering in its kit (October 31)...

2008
British welterweight Peter Buckley's latest defeat, by Lee Selby on points over six rounds, was the 256th of his pro career, adding to his British record. His next fight ended in his 32nd win. The world record for most defeats had been set three years earlier (October 15).

1992
The closest Great Britain came in recent memory to winning the rugby league World Cup. They were at home, for a start, at Wembley. And their defensive approach looked like paying off. They led 6-4 at half-time through three goals by Deryck Fox to two by the legendary Mal Meninga, and they were still ahead with 13 minutes left. Then winger Alan Hunte took a pass in his own 25 and ran at Australia's famous half-back Allan Langer. He'd done exactly the same thing three times in the match. Each time, Langer had tackled him high. Now he went in low. Hunte went head over heels, and lost the ball. Australia's Steve Walters threw out a long pass to his brother Kevin, who'd come on as a replacement and now moved the ball on to the scrum-capped figure of Steve Renouf, who was winning his first cap. Renouf ran straight, broke John Devereux's tackle, and went over in the corner for the only try of the match. Meninga's fine conversion made the final score 10-6. There was still time for a comeback, but Britain hadn't looked like scoring a try. According to Australia's coach Bob Fulton, "They never made a break at all."

1993
The end of a frustrating season for Nick Faldo as he reached the World Matchplay final for the last time. No major titles for once, just five second places in various tournaments including the British Open (July 18). He was the defending champion here at Wentworth, but the weather matched his mood: dank and gloomy. His final with Corey Pavin was close throughout, with the feeling that the American would squeeze through in the end. When he did, the way he did it added to Faldo's irritation. Pavin missed a chance to go three up with three to play, and Faldo almost made him pay. Pavin bunkered his second shot at the 16th and Faldo birdied the 17th. But the last hole was a real anticlimax. When they found Faldo's ball in bushes, the situation was hopeless. The obvious choice was to take a free drop and penalty stroke. But Pavin was already on the green, so Faldo tried to smash his way out of the vegetation. He made a six, leaving Pavin to sink a five-footer for the title. It was Faldo's fifth appearance in the final, spread over ten years. He won two, including an 8 & 7 thrashing of Jeff Sluman in 1992.

Leon MacDonald was instrumental in New Zealand's 91-7 victory against Tonga © Getty Images

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1971
Barcelona staged the final of the first ever World Cup in hockey. There were only five penalty corners in the match, which showed how little pressure the defences were under. But one of them produced the only goal of the game. Akhtar Rasoul came into the team in place of the injured Tanvir Dar, Pakistan's best defender. His goal in the 26th minute came from a penalty corner awarded after the best move of the match. Hosts Spain were disappointing in attack and dodgy in defence. They missed a good chance in the 50th minute, finished runners-up again in 1998, and have never won the World Cup.

1970
People thought they'd seen the future of rugby. And it was Fijian. On their tour of Britain, they lost matches to ordinary teams and scraped through one or two others. But today it all came together in the second half - and not against some weak regional team, but the Barbarians themselves. And not just the Barbarians, but a team selected with an eye on the British Lions tour to New Zealand the following year. Fourteen of the players were internationals - and the other, Derek Quinnell, became a cult figure with Wales and the Lions. The team included Gareth Edwards, Phil Bennett, JPR Williams, David Duckham, and Fergus Slattery. But Bennett and several others didn't make that Lions trip, destroyed by a brand of rugby which had to be seen to be believed and left a smile on everyone's face. The match was staged at Gosforth, miles away from the rugby union heartlands - but it would have graced Twickenham. It started well for the Barbarians with a try by John Spencer - and Fiji didn't equalise until the last minute before half-time. But in the first 20 minutes after it, they scored another four tries. Prop forward Jona Qoro maintained his tour record of a try a match, and uncapped scrum-half Isimeli Batibasaga crossed the line with a swallow dive. He added to the picture by kicking a conversion from a standing start - but he missed six kicks at goal, so Fiji should have won by even more than 29-9, worth 43-13 today. It wasn't just the score and the seven tries but the way they were scored. Prop forwards running with the ball in one hand, lock forwards sidestepping, the constant support of the ball-carrier, were a delightful shock to British eyes, and it looked as if Fiji were about to rule the world. Instead they turned their back on it. Instead of doing the hard graft needed by tight forwards, they essentially opted out of the 15-a-side game and concentrated on sevens. They ruled that particular world in the end, but after the performance in Gosforth there's still a sense that they missed a great chance.

1968
The British swimmer who finished ahead of Mark Spitz at the Olympics. Spitz arrived in Mexico City boasting of the six gold medals he was about to pick up, but the only two he did win were in relays. He had to settle for bronze in the 100m freestyle (October 19) and silver in the 100m butterfly, and saved his worst performance for today's 200m butterfly final. Struggling for confidence and oxygen in the thin air, he finished eighth and last. Meanwhile Britain's Martin Woodroffe had turned 18 only a month earlier. In today's race, he was never out of the top three and led for ten yards on the last length before Spitz's US team mate Carl Robie came through to take gold by only 0.3 of a second. The winning time was exactly three seconds slower than Spitz's world record.

In the women's race in the same event, another favourite had been off form in Mexico. Big Ada Kok was Holland's great butterfly ace. She set three world records at 100m and four in a row at 200m, the last of which was still on the books at these Games. But she hadn't won an Olympic gold medal. There were two silvers in 1964 and a fourth place in the 100m here. With one length to go in today's 200m, she was in third place behind two German swimmers. Then her great shoulders pulled her into the lead, and she held off Helga Lindner's revival to win by inches. At that high altitude, her time was nearly four seconds slower than her world record - but she could live with that.

On the same day in the same pool, the effects of altitude were seen at their worst. The men's 200m freestyle was the first at the Olympics since 1904. The final matched the 100m champion of 1968 with the 100m champion of 1964, who was a 200m specialist. If there had been a 200m free at those 1964 Games, Don Schollander would definitely have won it. Instead he settled for gold medals in four other events (October 18). Here in Mexico, Australia's Mike Wenden beat Spitz to win the 100m free (October 19) and battled Schollander all the way in today's 200m. It was a real clash of styles, Schollander all smoothness and long strokes, Wenden smashing through the water. Wenden took ten or 15 strokes more in every length but got through on sheer power. An epic race ended with Wenden completing the sprint double but with both swimmers in extreme distress. Schollander was given oxygen afterwards, and Wenden actually lost consciousness in the pool and had to be saved from drowning. Schollander announced his retirement after five Olympic titles, while Wenden was still winning gold at the Commonwealth Games in 1974.

2003
An easy win for favourites New Zealand at the rugby union World Cup. Twelve of their 13 tries in Brisbane were divided among nine different scorers (the other was a penalty try) - and all of them were converted: 12 by Leon MacDonald, who scored one himself. Tonga were 35-0 down at half-time and lost 91-7.

1992
That snorting bull of a centre Danie Gerber scored his last try for South Africa, 12 years after his first. One of the all-time greats, a powerful and dashing runner, he scored the Springboks' only try at the Parc des Princes. France were held 6-6 at half-time but won 29-16. Naas Botha kicked 11 points but Thierry Lacroix kicked 19. Gerber and Botha, mainstays of the national team in the Apartheid years, won their last caps in a defeat at Twickenham the following month (November 14).

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