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. 

A sporting summer which keeps on giving...

After an Olympics of such scintillating brilliance that even its bitterest sceptics became engrossed, we were faced with a sobering return to normality.

Yet no sooner had we comprehended that Rhythmic Gymnastics was no more, or that Bargain Hunt was back over Handball, then the next event had started and the summer was back in motion.

We have since seen another superb sporting month, full of thrills and spills, scandal and success, and here are eight of its finest moments...

KP: We needed something to temper our faith in the Olympian spirit, and after an almost unnoticed 149 at Headingley, Pietersen provided exactly that when sending South Africans derogatory texts about his teammates.  A spoof Twitter account claimed that while there is no ‘I’ in team there are five in individual brilliance, and this epitomises a player long renowned for dressing room division. This time he has gone too far, but as England lose their captain and number one ranking before the toughest of sub-continent tours, can they survive without their controversial talisman?

Lance: Pietersen has ruffled feathers on MCC balconies, but after abandoning his fight against doping charges, the Lance Armstrong scandal is global. The US Anti-Doping Agency crusade does appear a vendetta, and to rely on the evidence of serial cheats Hamilton and Landis is flaky at best. Yet it was always inconceivable that Lance could have dominated clean in such a notorious era, and whatever the eventual outcome his legacy will always be stained.

Transfers: In football it is money which rules the roost. Yet any apathy about the beautiful game was dispelled with the excitement of Robin Van Persie’s move to Old Trafford. Then came the rituals of deadline day: day off, up at 9 with Lap-Top, I-Phone and Skysportsnews at the ready to hear who Preston had poached from Wycombe and who Liverpool had failed to spend £35million on. Being an Arsenal fan on this day is like being in detention when everyone else is playing, but after a day of failure Liverpool were there alongside them.

Action: Some of those who did move – Hazard, Cazorla, Michu and RVP - have been the stars so far. Goalkeeping howlers and more Anfield disappointment have been among other highlights, while the Hodgson era began properly with a romp in Moldova.  With domestic cricket and Rugby League nearing closure, Rugby Union also got underway with a thrilling Twickenham fight-back for Harlequins, in a season focussed towards next summer’s Lions tour.

Round Two: For those who cannot be satisfied by anything other than a Stratford sport-fest the Paralympics were the perfect tonic. With a thrilling opening ceremony followed by great sport in the pool, the velodrome and the track, history was repeating itself, and the fact that the heroes were blind long jumpers, armless archers and legless cyclists made it only more exciting. With its many classifications the Games can be confusing but the action – epitomised by the sprinting duels of Oscar Pistorius and the unbridled anger of Jody Cundy – was top-level professional sport.

Success: The British bandwagon rolled on unabated. After four titles apiece, Sarah Storey and David Weir (wolf) were the stars, with Symonds, Peacock, Christianson and others close behind.  Elsewhere Rory McIlroy’s triumph at the USPGA was another forgotten win but his form there and subsequently was magnificent, while the return of Formula One after the summer recess has provided more Union flag waving after victories for Button and now Hamilton - despite growing cracks within McLaren.

Fame: But if Olympic nostalgia has been too great, then it has not been hard to find its heroes. Most have being doing the customary chat shows, interviews and appearances as they enjoy their time in the spotlight, while others have been wing-walking, having twins, or becoming Britain’s foremost celebrity couple. Some have been finishing their seasons’, be it at the Tour of Britain, or the Diamond League – where Aries Merritt’s hurdles world record dared to steal the limelight.

 Priorities: Other Team GB stars have had greater targets. Ben Ainslie has netted two Americas Cup wins; Chris Froome came fourth in the Tour of Spain – one race too far in a mountain-dominated event as much for the purists as the Tour de France was for the Brits.  Over in New York it was thrills and spills for Laura Robson and her mixed doubles partner in a typically disorganised US Open. From his agonising SW19 final defeat via the Olympics to New York, Andy Murray has been a constant presence this summer and if he is to beat Djokovic tonight it will be a crowning glory.

We have never seen such a great summer of sport before, and with Twenty20 and Ryder Cup action still to come, we are never likely to again.

Today’s parade reminded us of those great champions, but there are so many others as well, and if you are wondering why I haven’t written about them since March, well – I have been too busy watching it all...