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Blogvent Day 1 - Every #1s a Winner

Sport | Technology

It’s that time of the year again - the now annual tradition of Sine Qua Non’s Blogvent Calendar, a numerical countdown to Christmas focussing on all those things that get the conversational juices flowing at SQN Towers.

There’s not a whole lot of space behind virtual door number 1 as we look back on just a selection of people, brands, athletes and sports personalities who have managed to wrestle the number 1 position in their respective fields in 2010.

Tennis star Rafael Nadal may have been beaten by Roger Federer in the ATP World Tour Finals at the weekend, but the Spaniard comfortably retained his #1 position at the head of the ATP rankings after three successive Grand Slam titles in 2010 - the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.

At the start of the year, golf was the centre of attention for all the wrong reasons as a result of Tiger Woods’ much publicised personal troubles. Woods’ difficult year started with ‘those’ affair stories and ‘that’ press conference in February but his return to the fairway has helped put the focus back on the sport of golf rather than its off-the-field soap operatics. His out-of-sorts performances since his comeback in Augusta in April have seen him lose what was a very solid position as the world’s #1 golfer to Lee Westwood. Westwood’s rise to the #1 position has been rewarded with a placing on the BBC’s shortlist for Sports Personality of the Year, another title that he will have a good shot at.

In Motorsport, it was all change at the top of the championship tables with Jorge Lorenzo usurping his team-mate Valentino Rossi for the MotoGP title and Sebastian Vettel coming up trumps in a four-way battle for F1 supremacy.

Spain came out victors in the summer’s world cup and cemented their hold on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.

In the Vancouver Winter Olympics, Amy Williams took Britain’s first individual Winter Olympics gold medal for 30 years after a sensational victory in the women’s skeleton. An MBE and a nod in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards added further to her impressive accolades in 2010.

In the world of tech, Apple’s iPad has taken the world by storm since being unveiled in January, selling well in excess of 7 million units since April. It’s status as one of the year’s ‘must have’ tech gadgets sees it occupy the #1 position on most people’s Christmas wishlists and will play a big part in securing Apple’s position as the most valuable tech company in the world.

Let’s spare a final word for the Social Media phenomenon whose meteoric rise has continued unabated in 2010. Networking site Facebook claimed #1 website status in the US back in March, having overpowered the might of Google in terms of web visits. The site also claimed its 500 millionth registered user in July. Facebook has also enjoyed #1 appeal at the International Box Office thanks to the critically acclaimed and anticipated Oscar front-running film “The Social Network”.

So it’s a veritable feast behind the first festive door. If you have any personal favourite #1s from 2010, whether in the world of tech or sport, be sure to let us know.

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