A couple of weeks ago I focused on the tenacity of Mark Cavendish and how well he was doing in the Tour De France.

He went on to again win the green jersey and in so doing equalled the record of stage wins in this iconic event with the great Belgian cyclist Eddy Merckx which had been unequalled since 1975.

I then looked at a number of other Isle of Man sportspeople who have competed with distinction at home and on a world stage. I ran out of space and promised to revert to the subject on a future occasion.

The sad passing of Derek Harrison and Ian (Tomo) Tomlinson recently motivated me to return to the subject.

Derek played football but is best remembered for his race walking efforts.

He competed at Commonwealth Games level in Christchurch New Zealand in 1974 in the 20-mile event in which Graham Young finished fourth.

He set the world 24-hour race walking record in 1978 completing an amazing 136 miles.

His name still stands next to a number of Manx records.

But for me his 1979 Parish Walk victory, one of five in his name, is outstanding.

His record pace of 15 hours 20 minutes and 21 seconds stood for 27 years until Sean Hands took victory in 2006.

Derek’s late wife Sylvia also put tremendous energy and drive into Isle of Man sport.

Ian Tomlinson appeared 61 times for the island cricket team with distinction. He was the island’s best bowler (representing Finch Hill) six times and he then went on to chair Isle of Man Cricket Association and to manage the national team.

He also served our island via membership of the Isle of Man Sports Council.

For many of us born in the island, motorcycle racing has represented a life-long interest and a number of either Manx or island residents have competed in the most famous road races in the world around the Mountain Course.

Topping the list with 17 TT wins is sidecar ace Dave Molyneux, with various passengers, along with another great from the TT Hall of Fame, Geoff Duke. It was wonderful to know him well and even share a stage with him.

Some 50 plus years after his six victories he would patiently sign his autograph and talk to those who queued up to meet him.

A real gentleman, I had the honour to flag him off on his last lap and in his lifetime and at his choice the 32nd milestone was renamed Duke’s 32nd when I was minister.

Other TT victors include Nick Crowe (five), Dave Leach and Chris Palmer (four), Darren Hope (three), Tom Sheard (two), Doug Jewell, Richard ’Milky’ Quayle and Neil Kelly (one).

Neil was another real gentleman and he kindly sponsored me with a 460cc Honda to compete in the Manx Grand Prix.

Milky took victory in four MGP races and was sportsman of the year in 2002 on our island.

The late and much missed Dan Kneen won three MGPs, as has Michael Evans who holds lap records in the Senior and Junior events. Two-time winners include the first Manxman to win both, the late Alan Holmes, Tony Duncan, Chris Fargher, Norman Kneen, Dan Sayle, Brian Venables, Barry Wood, Buddy Yeardsley and Nathan Harrison.

Among others, Dave Broadhead, Graham Cannell, Paul Corrin, and the late Gary Carswell, Mike Casey, Dennis Craine and George Costain all won a Manx.

The latter by George being particularly special to me as it was the year I was born and he signed the programme for me!

The records in the Parish Walk also set out a number of really talented Isle of Man athletes including six victories for John Cannell; Richard Gerrard, Derek Harrison and Robbie Callister (five), Jock Waddington (four), Willie Corkill and Henry Harvey (three), Liam Parker, Peter Kaneen and Graham Young (two).

In the women’s event Sue Biggart has won six times and Rosemarie Crellin, three, among the top results.

Of course I was delighted when Sammy Bowden joined the ranks of lady winners this year.

The Isle of Man has also been innovative and trail blazers as far as sport is concerned.

The Island Games were conceived and first held on the island in 1985. Isle of Man Year of Sport was the brainchild of the late Geoff Corlett in close cooperation with Noel Cringle and others.

I was thrilled to be the minister together with the Sports Council and organising committee to welcome back the first games of the new millennium in 2001.

In 1985 the Manx team in the Island Games topped the medal table as they did in Guernsey in 1987, Faroes in 1989, Bermuda in 2013 and Gotland in 2017.

There have been a number of exceptional individual and team performances over the years.

As Minister of Sport I was privileged to support our teams at several games and as a keen sportsperson I have attended Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh 1970, Manchester in 2002 (where a number of people spotted me waving the Manx flag on television!) and Glasgow in 2014.

During my time as minister, as well as seeing through much development of our sporting infrastructure in cooperation with the Isle of Man Sports Council, the Isle of Man Sports Awards and the Manx Youth Games were inaugurated.

Both, under the supervision of the great team at the NSC and the sports council, have become firm favourites on the sporting calendar.

Since 2002 Mark Cavendish was the under-21 sportsman of the year once and took the senior award on no fewer than nine occasions. Zoe Gillings-Brier took the under-21 women’s title and went on to take the senior award six times.

Other Isle of Man Sportsman of the Year winners have been Richard Quayle, Martin Rowe, David Knight (four times), Peter Kennaugh (twice), Tim Kneale (twice) and Jamie McCanney, Tom Gandy and Joe Reid (once each).

Other female winners have been Jess Draskau, Sue Biggart, Carolynn Sells, Aalin George,Yasmin Ingham (three times), Charlotte Atkinson (twice) and Catherine Reid.

I get the feeling that once again I am not going to be able to give due credit in this piece to all those who have excelled in sport on or on behalf of, the Isle of Man!

Let’s just look for a moment at one area of proud representation of the Isle of Man at national and international level.

How could anyone not be inspired by the Isle of Man Special Olympics team who have waved our flag with pride across the world.

How could we not be touched by their heroic efforts?

Let’s also look at the many people who either have followed sporting careers or dedicated their efforts to training or administration of sport.

They must be worth a column for another day.

Among many who have been recognised at the sports awards include many friends such as Murray Lambden, Dot Tilbury, Steve Kelly, Frank and Pat Anderson, Geoff Corlett, Bryan Sharp, Ron Ronan, Geoff Karran, Brian Partington and so many more.

The original idea for recognising our sporting ambassadors was that we clearly do so much better than a normal population of 85,000 would. As stated previously this is not just in sport but also the arts, academia, industry and more.

A real cause for celebration!