Patience and Perseverance:

From Hillsborough to Flushing Meadows the sporting lesson of the week is that patience and perseverance can eventually pay dividends. 

Andy Murray’s career has long been successful, but after a series of Grand Slam near misses he remained associated with plucky failure. 

Yet after a Wimbledon final defeat which seemingly underlined his shortcomings, he realised that he was slowly edging closer and refused to be disheartened.

His run since has been remarkable: Olympic gold and revenge on Roger Federer before a thrilling US Open victory over another of his great rivals.

Murray’s success is testament to never giving up, of dedicating everything to a cause, and of always believing in yourself and your game.

Cyclist Jonathan Tiernan-Locke took a similarly long road to success but unlike Murray he was confined to the back roads in a journey marked by obscurity and misfortune. 

After turning professional in 2003, he contended with Epstein-Barr virus, injury after a collision with a horse, and the financial bankruptcy and breakup of his team. But his patience paid off when he won the Tour of Britain and he will most likely gain a 2013 contract with Team Sky.

The Olympics and Paralympics – where success can come only every four years – provided many more examples.  After missing Beijing through injury, Jessica Ennis had a long wait for redemption, while rower Katherine Grainger won gold at the fourth attempt after silver at three consecutive Games.

Blind perseverance does not determine success. Changes often have to be made: take Mo Farah’s move to America, or Murray’s appointment of Ivan Lendl.

More wholesale changes can also be necessary: the ECB’s preference for the freshness of Root and Compton over serial offender Kevin Pietersen is one possible, yet unproven example.

But in the modern world change can be too common and the case of Arsenal and Man United, where faith in personnel has caused success over the last decade and the last week, is a poignant reminder to Tottenham and Liverpool fans intolerant of any setback.

For the latter the result of the Hillsborough Inquiry is a final testament to the importance of patience after a 23-year wait for vindication.

The verdict by no means makes up for the tragedy but it shows that for Liverpool - as for Tiernan-Locke, Murray and many others – a lifetime of struggle can end in success.