2012 sports year in review: records, achievements, plus sundry feats and streaks from Brees and Bryant to Cain and Ko

South African Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, an amputee who runs using carbon-fiber blades in lieu of his missing lower legs, won a legal battle to gain entry to the London Olympics. The man they called the Blade Runner thus became the first double amputee to compete in the Olympic Games. He finished second in his opening 400-meter heat but last in the semis, then went on to run in the Paralympics that followed the London Olympics.  In a show of just how competitive the Paralympics has become, Pistorius failed to win the 200 meters, an event in which he was unbeaten, and also lost his 100-meter title. In the former race, he questioned the dimensions of the equipment used by the winner, Brazil’s Alan Oliveira, who stormed from behind to win at the wire. The officials upheld the result, but Pistorius’s charges of unfairness may point up the difficulty in achieving a totally level playing field in Paralympic events.