As with any year, there was also inevitable and painful loss, with Kobe Bryant and Diego Maradona bookending a 12 months that will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

If sport has taught us one thing over all these years, it is triumph over adversity. This year was no different with sport itself cast as the underdog as the world around us fell apart.

Here, in alphabetical order, are some of the athletes and officials that deserve to be remembered:

Bryson DeChambeau

The mad scientist was proved to be not so mad in his singular approach to golf, when he won the US Open at Winged Foot in September. He apparently spent his pandemic pause of PGA events by getting prison buff and used his new-found physique in perfect conjunction with his yardage book to blow the opposition away. He gets the nod ahead of Masters winner Dustin Johnson and 23-year-old PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa as he may have shaken up the suits with his power-hitting style.

Armand Duplantis

The Swede leaps onto the list for breaking a 26-year-old world record in the men’s pole vault – Ukrainian legend Sergey Bubka’s 1994 mark of 6.14m – and literally raising the bar. Duplantis, just 21, had been hyped as the one to break it but no one expected it to come so soon. He did it in September at a Diamond League meet in Rome. On a warm, still night, Duplantis soared over 6.15m on his second attempt to show that nothing lasts forever.

Laurent Duvernay-Tardif

A Super Bowl winner with the Kansas City Chiefs in February, by July Duvernay-Tardif had walked away from the NFL – the first player to pull out of the Covid-19 season. He returned to his native Canada to resume his medical studies and join the front line of the pandemic.

Lewis Hamilton

The Briton won a seventh driver’s championship to match his hero Michael Schumacher and he surpassed the great German’s record for most race wins along the way. Hamilton also refused to bow to pressure to keep the Black Lives Matter cause away from Formula One and championed it at every opportunity. He ended the year battling Covid-19 before being named the Personality of the Year at the FIA Awards and by the BBC.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

The big Swede has taken AC Milan back to the top of the Serie A table and allowed their fans to dream of a first scudetto since 2011. He has also beaten Covid-19 and told others to be more careful – “The virus challenged me and I won,” he said. “But you are not Zlatan, don’t challenge the virus.” All that, and he has hinted at a possible return to the national team. This is all the more remarkable as the striker is 39.

Sabrina Ionescu

The University of Oregon basketball star had a tough year. She lost friend and mentor Kobe Bryant, the NCAA tournament was cancelled and she then missed much of the ensuing WNBA season with an ankle injury. In the meantime, she went No 1 in the WNBA draft to the New York Liberty after finishing her Ducks career with more records, including becoming the first college player – male or female – to reach 2,000 points, 1,000 assists and 1,000 career rebounds.

LeBron James

Named NBA Finals MVP as the Los Angeles Lakers won a first ring since 2010, James did it all on and off the court in a busy 2020. He took on Donald Trump on Twitter on a regular basis, earning the ire of the president’s supporters. James also continued to speak out for social justice causes, adding his weight to getting the vote out among his fellow NBA players and the rest of the US.

Michael Jordan

The greatest basketball player of all time? That is for another time but Jordan returned to the public consciousness through The Last Dance, the documentary series on his sixth NBA championship with the Chicago Bulls, and his tears at the death of “little brother” Kobe Bryant.

The Last Dance was perfect nostalgia for coronavirus times

He then stayed there by speaking out on social justice issues and backing those causes, while also being integral to the NBA’s campaign around the US presidential elections. Jordan was criticised for ignoring politics as a player but he made up for lost time this year. He also became the first black owner of a Nascar team, hiring Bubba Wallace, the only black driver.

Colin Kaepernick

He might not have been offered a chance to put on his pads again but the San Francisco 49ers quarterback, who led anthem-kneeling protests in 2016, has been proven right. He got an apology from the NFL, with commissioner Roger Goodell admitting that the league should have listened to players earlier. Kaepernick was also included in the latest addition of the Madden video game series and as a cause-funding ice cream by Ben and Jerry’s, the next step is to get him back on the field.

Robert Lewandowski

The Bayern Munich striker had a colossal year that ended with him beating Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to the Best Men’s Player at Fifa’s Awards. He added that to a rather packed trophy shelf that had already made room for a first Uefa Champions League winner’s medal, another German Bundesliga title and German Cup, along with the European Golden Boot. He seems to be getting better at 32 and already has 17 goals in 12 games this season as Bayern sit top of the table.

Kazuyoshi Miura

“King Kazu” is still going as a professional footballer in Japan at the age of 53, and made another J1 League appearance for Yokohama in their final game of the season this month. He was part of the Japan team that won the country’s first AFC Asian Cup in 1992 and is edging towards playing on professionally three decades later.

Maya Moore

Another player who shone by not playing, Moore had opted to sit out another WNBA season, just as she had in 2019, as she fought the case of Jonathan Irons, a man she believed to be wrongfully convicted. The Minnesota Lynx star helped free Irons in July and announced that they had married in September.

Rafael Nadal

The Spaniard made sure he was ready to play his beloved French Open when it finally took place in September, rather than its usual spring, and while the seasons had changed nothing did when Nadal was on court. He did not drop a set as he won a ridiculous 13th Roland Garros crown and a 20th overall slam to match Roger Federer. The 34-year-old’s career record at the French is 100-2, never has a player been so dominant on the clay in Paris.

Kim Ng

“I thought it would be a big deal, but it’s beyond my expectations. It’s also a testament to where we are. People are looking for hope. People are looking for inspiration. I’m happy to be a part of it.” So said Kim Ng as she was named the Miami Marlins GM, breaking the glass and bamboo ceilings in one fell swoop.

Kim Ng helps baseball drag US sport into 21st century

Her appointment came after several years of interviewing for such roles and being rebuffed, hinting at a shift in baseball that is evidenced by more women throughout the men’s game, such as coach Alyssa Nakken at the San Francisco Giants.

Khabib Nurmagomedov

Another sports star who had a tough year, the UFC great cemented his legacy with a win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. That was his first and last fight without his coach and father Abdulmanap by his side, following his death in July. Nurmagomedov announced his retirement immediately after his victory. His 29-0 record might make him the very best to have stepped foot in the octagon. His fans want him to come back for a 30th fight but he insists he is done and looking to help the future stars.

Naomi Osaka

“What was the message you got?” Osaka said to journalists at the US Open as she wore masks with the names of Americans killed by racial or police violence. “I feel like the point is to make people start talking.” She did just that as she wore a different name in each round on her way to a third slam victory. She missed the French Open through injury but finished the year, one where she had been pictured at Black Lives Matter protests, as the world No 3 and set a new benchmark for female athlete earnings.

Marcus Rashford

English football fans are notoriously tribal but they have warmed to the Manchester United player after he took on the Tory government over feeding the children who rely on free school meals during the times when schools were shut due to Covid-19 and holidays. Rashford was awarded an MBE for his services to vulnerable children and also given a special award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony this month. The 23-year-old also had his most prolific season in a red shirt and has been mentioned as a future captain of club and country.

Son Heung-min

The South Korean superstar has gone from strength to strength in a Spurs shirt, despite the pandemic postponing the English Premier League. He spent that pause fulfilling his military training back home before kicking on when football kicked off. Named to the Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football team of 2020 by Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville, Son also won the Puskas Award and EPL Goal of the Season. He is on course for his most prolific season in North London and he is worth even more back home – the South Korean government estimates he stimulates their economy to the tune of US$1.8 billion. Even Chinese news agency Xinhua held him up as a role model for footballers worldwide.

Dana White

UFC was the winner when it came to dealing with Covid-19, as they put on shows on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi and in Las Vegas, and came out of the year seemingly stronger than when they went in. The year started with a Fight of the Year contender between China’s Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk and it ended with another monster battle between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno this month.

Zhang vs Yan fight would see UFC put China in a chokehold

In the middle there was no abating in the promotion’s output, which also included star turns from Israel Adesanya and the retiring Khabib Nurmagomedov. White and the UFC will not slow down in 2021 with the return of Zhang and Conor McGregor on the way.’

Zhang Weili

The Chinese star did it the hard way this year. She had to leave her training camp in China for Thailand before having to leave Thailand for the Middle East as she raced to make it to Vegas before Covid-19 closed the door on her title defence against Joanna Jedrzejczyk. The 31-year-old let her fists do the talking, despite the frustrations, and kept her belt after a shoo-in for fight of the year. She has not fought since that instant classic in March, but UFC fans cannot wait for her next bout, while China waits on its superstar. Zhang won more fans with her social media posts and learning English.