In response to a link to our story on International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach’s New Year’s message, laced with positivity and a "renewed sense of purpose", an account by the name of Olympic Century Tweeted me with a simple retort: "2016 will go down in history as sport’s 'annus horribilis'.

The Latin phrase, which literally translates as "horrible year" and is used to describe 365 days of disaster and misfortune, has attached itself to 2016 and has simply not let go.

For some, this is because of two unexpected victories in the world of politics - Brexit and Donald Trump becoming President-elect of the United States - that many still cannot accept.

It is also because of the amount of celebrities and high-profile members of society who have sadly left us, such as "The Greatest" in boxing legend Muhammad Ali, coupled with the Chapecoense plane crash and exasperated by the death of George Michael on Christmas Day.

A little perspective is required here. Too many are jumping to label 2016 as the worst year ever, when really it does not come close to the war-ravaged years in the early part of the 20th Century, for example.

What is true is that you will find it difficult to recall a year of sport like we have witnessed over the past 12 months. Never before have sport and corruption been so intrinsically linked to the point where it is often difficult to separate the two.

2016 will go down in history as sport's "annus horribilis" https://t.co/OEEvC3vwon

— Olympic Century (@Olympic_Century) December 31, 2016

From state-sponsored doping to "institutional conspiracies". From World Anti-Doping Agency Independent Commission reports to a public and spiteful spat between the body and the IOC.

From calls for blanket bans of an entire nation from the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro to the deeply worrying revelations about sexual abuse in football in England and in American gymnastics.

From questionable deliveries of medical packages to Britain's most famous cyclist to hearings in front of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee in Parliament. 

Some might say it has been a year to forget.

With that in mind, perhaps it is time we paid special attention to the moments of 2016 which have made us smile in amazement and gasp with wonder. And, thankfully, there is not a small selection to choose from.

Before Rio 2016 got underway in August, we had already seen arguably one of the greatest-ever team sport achievements when Leicester City defied the odds to win the English Premier League title.

Leicester’s triumph is worthy of all the accolades that it is still greeted with and all the column inches and books that have been devoted to it, even seven months on and with the team struggling to reach the levels of the previous campaign this time around. Their achievement broke the monopoly of all the all-powerful sides in the mega-rich Premier League and gave the rest of the so-called lesser clubs hope for the future.

Not only that, but they won the title by a staggering 10-point margin, the biggest since Sir Alex Ferguson guided Manchester United to the Premier League crown in his final season in 2013, catapulting the architects of the victory into eternal glory.

Who could also forget Wales’ staggering run to the semi-finals of the UEFA European Championships in France, Britain's Chris Froome sealing a second consecutive Tour de France crown and a third overall or Serbia's Novak Djokovic completing the career Grand Slam by winning the French Open?

Glory was then on the minds of thousands of athletes who travelled to Rio for the Olympics and Paralympics, but few managed it with the grace, poise and elegance of American gymnast Simone Biles. The 19-year-old came into the Games seeking her first Olympic gold medal and she left with four, ensuring she departed as a true great. Who knows how long she will dominate the sport for?

Much to the amusement of my colleagues in the insidethegames office while running our Olympics Live Blog, Biles was unable to make it five - as I said she would - when she fell off the balance beam and was forced to settle for bronze. Their gentle ribbing about her failure on the trickiest of apparatus was constant and uncharacteristically witty.

As well as Biles, there were the usual antics of Mo Farah and Usain Bolt on the track, while Shaunae Miller of The Bahamas took the 400 metres crown in bizarre fashion, diving over the line to beat American rival Allyson Felix.

In this writer’s opinion, the outstanding track moment came when South African Wayde van Niekerk smashed the long-standing world record in the men's 400m, held by American legend Michael Johnson. If ever there was a sporting incident to briefly remove the dark doping clouds hanging over sport, it was that.

A personal highlight at the Games was when Britain’s battling, brave and brilliant women’s hockey team stunned the world by winning the gold medal with a nervy shootout win over The Netherlands in the final. Having covered a few of their pre-Rio 2016 tournaments and having bumped into them at the airport following a Test series against the Dutch before the Games, my hopes of a medal were high but dreams of gold were distant. I was glad to be proven wrong.

The Games themselves failed to live up to previous editions at Beijing 2008 and London 2012, with financial issues and other concerns plaguing the build-up to the event. The trials and tribulations of Rio have been well covered by my colleagues Nick Butler and David Owen, both of whom were fortunate - or unfortunate - enough to see it all for themselves.

From an outside point of view, at least the sport provided us with talking points and memories aplenty. Sport also came to the fore at the Paralympics, the lead-up to which was described as the "worst we have ever had" by International Paralympic Committee President Sir Philip Craven, although severe financial troubles meant it would always be a scaled-down version of what we might have expected.

So what lies ahead in 2017, then? One of the main highlights, where sport and politics will again meet, is the vote for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic host city at the IOC Session in Lima. September 13 is the date of destiny for Budapest, Los Angeles and Paris. 

For one, it will be an annus mirabilis - a wonderful year. For the other two, another annus horribilis awaits.