2022 in Scottish Sport: The iconic moments, near misses & comebacks

It's been another belter of a year in Scottish sport with Olympic, world, and Commonwealth titles snapped up amid the usual emotional ups and downs, as well as a dose of controversy too.

Here, BBC Scotland looks back at some of the big moments in sport in 2022 and, no, it's not meant to be an exhaustive list...

The iconic moments

There were plenty which will stick in the memory well into the new year and beyond.

In February, Eve Muirhead finally completed her lifetime's ambition by guiding her rink to Olympic curling gold. The Scottish quartet defeated Japan 10-3 in Beijing and Muirhead was in tears on the podium as it all became too much after years of falling just short of the top prize.

There was similar emotion on show when Eilish McColgan sprinted home, pain etched on every inch of her face, to claim a sensational 10,000m Commonwealth gold. McColgan was embraced by her mum Liz at the finish and the pair shared a beautiful moment, both now Commonwealth champions.

And that wasn't even the fill of family-themed fun on the athletics track. Jake Wightman stormed to a shock 1500m title at the World Championships in Eugene, while his dad Geoff commentated from the stands.

Wightman's stunned face as he crossed the line said it all about the scale of his achievement - emulating Steve Cram as a British men's 1500m world champion.

Biggest disappointments

As always in sport, there are lows as well as highs. Arguably the biggest disappointment was the national football teams failing to reach the men's or women's World Cups.

Steve Clarke's men's side were beaten 3-1 by an inspired Ukraine team at Hampden in June in their play-off semi-final, before Pedro Martinez Losa's women's team lost 1-0 in their play-off against the Republic of Ireland.

For the women, it compounded the disappointment of missing out on the delayed 2021 European Championships in the summer, which England went on to win.

The men did finish 2022 on a high after winning their Nations League section and securing promotion to League A - and a play-off place for the 2024 Euros.

In rugby, the Six Nations also proved a damp squib for both of Scotland's teams. The men's side promised much after a good 2021 was followed up by beating England in their opener, but they managed only victory over Italy thereafter.

Bryan Easson's women's side lost all five of their games, falling agonisingly short against Wales, Italy and Ireland in particular.

Comeback stories

These are the athletes who overcame previous disappointment, or physical or personal difficulties to triumph. Muirhead's curling gold at her fourth attempt stands out here.

Having recovered from hip surgery, her rink tanked at the 2021 World Championships and had to go through a brutal qualifying process for the Olympics.

After squeezing through that nerve-shredding tournament, they went on to win the European and Olympic titles, having looked in trouble at various times in Beijing. Hailey Duff, Jen Dodds, Vicky Wright, Eve Muirhead - we salute you.

There needs to be an honourable mention too, for swimmer Ross Murdoch. Having retired without telling anyone in the build-up to the Commonwealth Games, the gallus 28-year-old ended up with three bronze medals, and captured hearts along the way with his full-blooded approach.

Near misses

It's time for some more emotional agony. Rangers stunned many by storming to May's Europa League final in Seville.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side were a fantastic save from Eintracht Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp away from glory. Had Ryan Kent put his effort inches closer to the corner, it could have been a whole different story. Instead, Rangers went on to lose on penalties.

Back on the curling rink, Bruce Mouat's men's team were outstanding at the Beijing Olympics but were edged out 5-4 by Niklas Edin's Sweden in what many of the sport's experts described as the greatest final ever.

At least Mouat, Hammy McMillan, Bobby Lammie, and Grant Hardie got the consolation of a silver medal.

And, though it was a breakthrough year for the tennis star, Cameron Norrie came close to a first ever Wimbledon final, but lost out to the great Novak Djokovic despite taking the first set of their semi-final. He'll be back.

Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp's late save from Ryan Kent proved key in the Europa League final

Against the odds

Rangers' run in Europe definitely fits the bill, having overcome richer clubs en route to the Europa League final - including convincing wins over two legs against German giants Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig.

The whole of Scotland's Commonwealth Games team defied their own expectations by making Birmingham 2022 the nation's most successful Games outside of Glasgow 2014.

So many athletes performed brilliantly to ensure the team claimed 51 medals - including 13 gold.

And there needs to be a mention for the Scotland women's rugby team, who appeared at a first World Cup since 2010 having qualified at the end of last year.

Biggest controversies

There was plenty of drama in 2022, so here's a flavour of it.

Scotland fly-half Finn Russell has been in the headlines a fair bit after he and several team-mates, including then captain Stuart Hogg, hit an Edinburgh bar after their Six Nations win over Italy in March.

Some were dropped for the following week's visit to Dublin, and there were plenty of awkward post-match interviews after Scotland were convincingly beaten by Ireland.

Fast forward to the autumn and the effects of that saga seemed to linger as Russell was left out of Gregor Townsend's squad altogether, while Hogg was stripped of the captaincy.

The Racing 92 fly-half eventually returned for the games against New Zealand and Argentina, and played brilliantly. Awkward.

Who knows how this saga will play out next month when the Six Nations starts again.

Elsewhere, boxer Josh Taylor defeated Jack Catterall in Glasgow to defend his super-lightweight world titles, but the split points decision didn't so much provoke controversy as complete outrage.

The vast majority of observers called it as a convincing victory for the Chorley-born challenger, but the Tartan Tornado somehow emerged with the belts raised above his head.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker of the House of Commons and Catterall's MP, asked the police to probe the result such was the furore.

The pair are set for a potential re-match next year, which will certainly be extremely spicy.

In the world of football, the controversy can be summed up by three letters. VAR. Enough said.

The poignant moments

We've already touched on some truly emotional scenes, but here are a few more which brought a tear to the eye.

Para power-lifter Micky Yule, one of Scotland's flag bearers for the Commonwealth Games, claimed bronze in the heavyweight benchpress final.

The 44-year-old had narrowly missed out on medals at his previous two Games, and finally got his hands on one in Birmingham, the city where he had life-saving surgery in 2010 after stepping on an improvised explosive device (IED) while serving in Afghanistan.

If that wasn't emotional enough, he brought his young daughter Tilly on to the bench and through the interview zone afterwards and spoke about how she had helped inspire him to go again in pursuit of an that elusive medal. It was a magnificent moment.

Micky Yule brought his daughter Tilly up onto the stage after claiming Commonwealth bronze in Birmingham

Another touching moment came at Murrayfield before the Test against New Zealand in November. The legendary Doddie Weir emerged from the tunnel in a wheelchair to present the match ball, as he had five years previously, as both sets of players came over to warmly greet him.

The 67,000 inside the ground applauded and the place swelled with both pride, and some sadness as Weir made what turned out to be his last appearance in front of his adoring rugby public.

He died two weeks later after bravely battling motor neurone disease for six years, having done so much to raise money for research to find a cure for the illness.

Rest in peace, big man.

And the rest...

There are too many great moments to recount. But here's some more.

Peter Wright's world darts title; the Simpson brothers claiming an historic Paralympic skiing gold; Gordon Reid winning another two grand slam titles alongside wheelchair doubles partner Alfie Hewett; the 150th Open Championship at St Andrew's; and Laura Muir adding Commonwealth and European titles to her World bronze.

There were also moments of serious reflection, for example a finding of institutional racism at Scottish Cricket which will have repercussions across all sports and how they treat ethnic minorities.

But overall, 2022 in Scottish sport delivered some fantastic moments which will live long in the memory. Let's see what 2023 has in store...