Five Great British sporting disappointments

1963 Henry Cooper beaten by Cassius Clay The pair fought at Wembley Stadium in a non-title fight in front of 55,000 people. In the fourth round Cooper floored Clay – later known as Muhammad Ali – with his left hook, known as 'Enry's 'Ammer. However, controversy ensued as Clay's corner asked for time to have a glove attended to as it had a 'mysterious' rip in it, allowing him time to recover. In the next round Cooper sustained a cut to an eye which lead to the referee stopping the fight and awarding it to Clay 1986 Nigel Mansell's heartbreak in the Australian Grand Prix Mansell went into the final grand prix of the season as the favourite to win the Formula One title – he only needed to finish third in the race, after all. Mansell would have been Britain's first champion since James Hunt in 1976, but disaster struck at the worst possible moment. In an incredible turn of events, a burst tyre on the 63rd lap of the race meant Mansell was unable to finish, and Alain Prost edged out his opponents to become only the third driver to retain the championship 1992 Derek Redmond's Olympics injury woe Redmond won gold medals in the World Championships, European Championships and Commonwealth Games, but his career was mostly blighted by injuries. In the buildup to the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992, he had to undergo eight operations due to various ailments. However, he battled back to reach the semi-final of the 400m. Redmond started well but after around 150m a hamstring became torn and he was unable to finish, although his father helped him over the line 1996 England lose to Germany on penalties It was the summer that football came home, but Euro 96 would end in pain for England as they lost to a familiar foe. They took an early lead through Alan Shearer only for Stefan Kuntz to equalise. In extra time Paul Gascoigne famously missed by inches and Kuntz had a golden goal disallowed, before Gareth Southgate's tame penalty was saved by Andreas Köpke in the shoot-out. Andreas Möller duly knocked England out and Germany beat the Czech Republic in the final 2011 Rory McIlroy misses his chance at the Masters Rory McIlroy began the final round of the 2011 US Masters with a four-shot lead and looked set to win his first major. He began the back nine of the final round with a one-shot lead. A disastrous drive on the 10th sparked a meltdown that ended with a final round of 80. As McIlroy was left to contemplate the highest final round by the 54-hole leader since Ken Venturi in 1956, Charles Schwartzel was putting on the Green Jacket. The Northern Irishman recovered to win the US Open