Hard-luck stories of 2025 highlight the fine line between pleasure and pain

For every trophy, gold medal and ticker-tape parade, you’ll find broken hearts nearby.

And so there should be, or sport would be meaningless. The only way champions can earn their accolades, adulation and prizemoney is by leaving their opponents in a world of pain.

That’s the way it has always been, and always will be. At the elite level not everyone gets a prize.

And as the sun sets on the year that was, spare a thought for those poor unfortunates who ended on the flip side – the hard-luck stories of 2025.

Oscar Piastri

After winning five of the first nine races this year, the 24-year-old Melburnian appeared destined to become Australia’s first Formula One world champion since Alan Jones in 1980.

But then the wheels fell off, as a procession of pit-stop blunders, 10-second penalties, a disqualification and controversial team tactics left him runner-up to McLaren teammate Lando Norris.

Most agreed Piastri upheld his end of the bargain but was let down by those around him. A $41 million bonus, on top of his $15 million salary, hopefully provided him with some consolation.

Ange Postecoglou

The former Socceroos coach promised he’d win silverware for Tottenham Hotspur and proved as good as his word, delivering the UEFA Europa League title last season, the club’s first trophy since 2008.

Within weeks, however, he’d been sacked, paying the ultimate price after Spurs finished 17th in the English Premier League.

Three months later, he took the helm of another famous English club, Nottingham Forest, only to be ruthlessly punted after a winless, eight-game, 39-day tenure. The results of both clubs since his departure would suggest maybe Postecoglou was not the problem.

Canberra Raiders

They were a joy to watch in wrapping up the NRL minor premiership, but the Green Machine stalled in the play-offs, crashing out with two straight losses.

Their season turned on a controversial refereeing decision in week one of the finals, when Brisbane’s Reece Walsh headbutted Canberra forward Hudson Young and both players were sin-binned.

Walsh returned to inspire a remarkable comeback, culminating in a golden-point victory for Brisbane. The shattered Raiders bowed out against Cronulla a week later, while the Broncos went on to win the premiership. It’s a fine line between pleasure and pain.

Broc Feeney

The Red Bull Chevrolet driver dominated the Supercars series, winning 14 races and 19 pole positions.

But he came unstuck in the inaugural four-round finals format, which allowed Ford veteran Chaz Mostert to usurp the title in the Adelaide season-ender.

Mostert, with four race wins and one pole, was crowned champion. Feeney finished third overall and fought back tears as he declared: “I don’t think you’ll be hearing from me for a while.”

Mary Fowler

The Matildas and Manchester City attacker had the world at her feet when she ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee playing in the FA Cup semi-finals.

The 22-year-old will be back, of course, after countless hours of physio.

But she is unlikely to reflect on 2025 with many fond memories, other than her unexpected opportunity to spend more time with boyfriend Nathan Cleary.

Amanda Anisimova

It is every tennis player’s dream to appear in a Wimbledon final, but the 23-year-old American was humiliated on the biggest stage of all, suffering a 6-0, 6-0 hammering from Poland’s Iga Świątek.

It was the first “double bagel” in a Wimbledon decider since 1911.

Cameron Smith

More than two years since his last tournament win, the Queenslander was hoping to break the drought at the Australian Open.

But on the final hole at Royal Melbourne, he missed a five-foot putt to force a play-off, handing Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen victory by a shot.

The Barmy Army

They travelled halfway around the world, confident they would be celebrating a breakthrough Ashes series victory by England.

Instead, they have been left crying in their beers after the Aussies raced to an unassailable 3-0 lead.

A two-day win in the MCG Boxing Day Test at least gave them something to sing about last weekend.

Nina Kennedy

After winning a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, the Australian pole vaulter was poised to dominate her sport in 2025.

But a series of hamstring strains prompted surgery and, after an expected three-month recovery period blew out to five months, she was forced to withdraw from the World Championships in Tokyo.

Ben Simmons

It doesn’t seem that long ago Ben Simmons became the first Australian to earn No.1 status on the NBA draft.

Now 29, and after a spate of injuries and stints with Philadelphia, Brooklyn and the Los Angeles Clippers, Simmons finished last season as an uncontracted free agent and admitted he was pondering retirement.

His decline prompted NBA commentator Bill Simmons (no relation) to label him the “most disappointing guy of the last 25 years”.

Nat Fyfe

He was one of the AFL’s modern-day greats, playing in 248 games and kicking 178 goals, as well as winning two Brownlow Medals, two AFL MVPs, and being named three times in the All-Australian team.

But when the Fremantle Dockers bowed out in last season’s finals, it meant the 34-year-old would retire without a premiership to his name. Sometimes there is no justice.

Toronto Blue Jays

It’s been a long time between drinks for the Blue Jays, who last won a World Series baseball title in 1993.

They had victory in sight in game seven, only for the Los Angeles Dodgers to stage a memorable comeback, retaining their title with a 5-4 triumph sealed in the ninth inning.