I'm Helen Richardson and I'm very proud to have played my part in this record breaking year.2010 was

Having ended it with three bronze medals, breaking two records along the way, I'm going to take you through

We took them all the way, dominating at times and certainly not allowing their superior experience of

Keep your eye on our progress; in 2011 England will be striving to win more medals at the Champions Trophy

and the European Cup.Helen Richardson plays for Reading and has been capped more than 150 times at international

December 2 – The golden pair of British athletics, Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah, have been named the British Athletics Writers' Association's athletes of the year.

Four times!" Ennis exclaimed."I've got to beat four!"That's tough."

10,000 metres double at the European Championships, and in breaking Dave Moorcroft's British 5000m record

I had a great year in 2010, highlighted by my two gold medals in the European Championships in Barcelona

and the British 5000m record in Zurich."

I have been working very hard over the past five years and I would like to thank all the journalists

institute in 2005 to boost Canada's medal performances contributed hugely to a home total of 14 gold medals

The United States had an extraordinary rush of medals that we hadn't expected.

the Road to Excellence - continues under the direction of Baumann, a double gold medallist and world record

They were all wearing team uniform, and as they filed through the chamber the members of Parliament began

It's all going to come down to the leadership at the centre."

Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and The

By Tom DegunNovember 8 - Irish sprint star Jason Smyth, the undisputed fastest Paralympian on the planet, has sent an ominous message to his rivals ahead of the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships in New Zealand by stating "the best is still to come".

competes in able-bodied as well as disability competition, already holds two Paralympic Games gold medals

and is the world record holder in the T13 100 and 200 metres.Smyth will be heading to Christchurch in

titles he won four years ago in the Netherlands but is also looking to improve on his personal best times

I remember plenty of times I didn't want to be there but through a lot hard work it's all starting to

The hat-trick of medals won by Britain's gymnasts - in the shape of Beth Tweddle, Louis Smith and Dan

with a personal best in the Freestyle and a British record in the Grand Prix Special.

Governing Body, with a solid high-performance plan, skilled coaches and talented, determined athletes, all

The sport has contributed gold medals to the Team GB tally in every Olympic Games since LA 1984 

It's exciting times at the BOA.

Zero medals of any sort. The one lonely medal was a bronze in the women's 1500.

British records for 800m, 1000m, 1500m, mile, 2000m and marathon are all 25 years old.

Our analysis shows the obvious and glaring difference between current runners and past record holders

Current runners are much stiffer than their record-holding predecessors.

His stroke was so inefficient, his flexibility so poor, that we were amazed at the times he could produce

By Tom Degun in New Delhi October 7 - Double Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington (pictured) claimed the first Commonwealth gold medal of her career as she stormed to victory in the women’s 800 metres freestyle final here today.

never seriously threatened as she touched first in 8min 24.69sec - just over 10 seconds off the world record

"It wasn’t about the time at all - this week has not been about times for anyone, it&rsquo

Australia now have 68 medals, 32 of which are gold, to leave them well clear of hosts India with 34 medals

and 14 golds in second place and England with 45 medals and 12 golds in third.

other hand, you had this: smiling young faces, excitement, dancing, music, teams parading who would all

The mind’s eye is no longer sufficient to record such occasions.

And here, finally, to a predictable tumult of approbation, was the Indian team, all 620 of them, tasked

with earning at least 100 medals and finishing second in the overall table, two places higher than they

Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and The

line to win the gold he thought he was going to win at the shorter distance, Coe, so controlled in all

But all this was rendered into a sub-plot by the overarching drama of the race.

For seven years, the world 1500m record had belonged to Jim Ryun, the American who shared the unhappy

distinction of other great runners such as Ron Clarke of never winning the medals his supreme talent

Walker, too, had broken the old record, finishing in 3.32.5, with Jipcho taking bronze in 3.33.16 and

Could it be Jeffrey Lawal Balogun, the Jeffrey-cum-lately of the domestic sprinting scene? Might it be Tom Lancashire, bold and increasingly determined over the middle distances? Or Hannah England, another to have moved up in class over 1500 metres? Or Louise Hazel, a heptathlete of huge promise? What about Lawrence Clarke, last year’s European Junior 110m hurdles gold medallist? Or Laura Samuel, the recent world junior triple jump silver medallist? Or Niall Brooks, the European Junior 800m silver medallist who narrowly missed out on a podium place in the recent World Juniors finishing fourth in a lifetime best performance?

Any or all of the foregoing have the opportunity in India to put together a performance which makes their

And her 1500m gold would be followed by a host of medals over the next decade, culminating in the 800

level of performance the next day, Thompson still won the title with 8,467 points, beating the Games record

Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and The

By Tom Degun in Singapore August 18 - Young British sprint star David Bolarinwa (pictured) lived up to his billing as gold medal favourite in the boys 100 metres at the Summer Youth Olympic Games as he cruised into Saturday’s final with the day’s fastest time of 10.62 seconds in a mixed 24 hours for Britain here.

  He told insidethegames: "My coach reckons I can break the British junior record of 10.31

"I’m not particularly worried about times I run right now though because I think a win is

Jopling who agonizingly finished in fourth place in the final and therefore just missed out on the medals

disappointment in the gymnastics where talented Sam Oldham finished in fifth place in the men’s individual all-around

the Pieter van den Hoogenband Swimming Stadium in Eindhoven by knocking four seconds off her world record

to silver in the first race and the night just got better for the team as they took a total of ten medals

With local favourite, Holland's Mirjam de Koning-Peper, pulling out of the race all eyes were on 15-year-old

of the action on the first night performance director John Atkinson said: "Coming away with ten medals

"The number of medals from the 400m is promising and it shows the strength and depth that we have

"It was also pleasing to see all athletes lowering their times from heats to finals.

But had all this happened in just over a week’s time when the Premier League kicks off, would the

 After all Rooney might have stubbed his big toe - which at least would make a change from

 Oh for those times some of us can happily remember when we had the likes of Bobby Moore’s

British gymnasts led by the redoubtable Beth Tweddle in the European Championships where they won 15 medals

of the phenomenal Chrissie (Iron Woman) Wellington, who has set a new world long distance triathlon record

one or two sports that might do well, one or two individuals that might perform on the day and win medals

But the record investment that followed and the difficult decisions UK Sport has taken in how and where

At times it might have been easier to have ignored it, to have given ourselves an easier ride with the

A record 47 Olympic and 102 Paralympic medals was an outstanding achievement and I am very proud of the

But the one challenge that all in Olympic and Paralympic sport must consider is to acknowledge, protect

After all, we have built the Commonwealth Games around the athletes.

and is a world record holder.

England's Rebecca Adlington won two swimming gold medals in Beijing.

That is not all.

This article was first published in the Hindustan Times