One by one they stepped forward to the microphone, a procession of young women normally seen wearing leotards and beaming smiles. Now, in late January 2018, they were testifying against a doctor who had abused them for years on end. Standing together in the trial of Larry Nassar, the female gymnasts of the United States finally had their day in court.

Later in the year a man from Kenya would smash the world marathon record. A trio of British men would make a clean sweep of cycling’s three Grand Tours. A Spaniard and a Briton would each claim a fifth world title, in MotoGP and Formula One, respectively. But they all took second place to those women.

More than 250 of them – including Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney and Gabby Douglas – made allegations against Nassar, accusing him not just of breaching the duty of care that falls on all professionals working with athletes, but also of stealing their innocence. The first to raise her voice had been Rachael Denhollander, who retired from the sport to qualify as a lawyer and raise a family. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina told Denhollander she was the bravest person she had ever had in her courtroom, describing her as “the five-star general” of “an army of survivors”.

Before Nassar was sentenced, several members of that army stood up in the Michigan courtroom to give victim impact statements. None was more scorchingly impressive than Aly Raisman, captain of the teams that won Olympic gold medals in 2012 and 2016. “The women you so heartlessly abused over such a long period of time are now a force, and you are nothing,” Raisman told the man in the dock. “Now, Larry, it’s your turn to listen to me,” she said, looking him straight in the eye.

Sentencing the 54-year-old Nassar to 40‑175 years in prison for the sexual assault of minors, the judge made it plain that she intended Nassar to spend the rest of his life in prison. The gymnasts’ courage in speaking out had given sport its #MeToo moment, adding impetus to a wave of change in an extraordinary year for women.

In Britain the adjustment was most visible in the TV coverage of the World Cup in Russia, with Alex Scott and Eni Aluko taking their places alongside the regular male pundits. This was a storming of a citadel that provoked Patrice Evra into applauding when he found that Aluko had something interesting to say – imagine what such a discovery would have done to Malcolm Allison, Derek Dougan, Pat Crerand and Bob McNab, the celebrated original punditry panel of the 1970 tournament – but had come to seem completely normal by the time Gareth Southgate’s team won their place in the semi-finals.

Other sports are following suit. In rugby union, for instance, Sara Orchard and Maggie Alphonsi are fighting for the sort of acceptance that Alison Mitchell achieved in cricket some time ago. Employed for the quality of their opinions rather than their ability to persuade male athletes to stop and give a post-match quote, these women are benefiting from the hard yards gained as presenters by such as Hazel Irvine, Gabby Logan, Clare Balding and Jacqui Oatley.

But still, of course, there was room for that unspeakable French disc jockey who, as the Norwegian footballer Ada Hegerberg took the stage of Paris’s Grand Palais to receive her world player of the year award in front of a worldwide TV audience, saw fit to ask her if she could twerk. As her face froze and she took a step away from him, politely covering her disdain, she was representing all the women ever required to find a response to male oafishness.

On the field of play England’s women enthralled the nation by snatching the Commonwealth Games netball gold medal from the clutches of Australia, the hot favourites, in the final seconds of a tumultuous final in Queensland, their coach, Tracey Neville, suddenly becoming as famous as her brothers, Gary and Phil.

A woman also laid a plausible claim to the year’s most extraordinary individual achievement. What Ester Ledecka did in the Winter Olympics had never been done before. First, wearing a pair of skis borrowed from Mikaela Shiffrin, the 22-year-old from the Czech Republic won the Super-G gold, medal then went out again and won the parallel giant slalom in snowboarding, her primary discipline. No one had expected Ledecka to win on skis in Pyeongchang, least of all herself. The double on different equipment was unprecedented. Look out if she ever fancies a go at luge or figure skating.

Male athletes took several chances to disappoint their followings. Tiger Woods spoiled his comeback by taking part with Phil Mickelson an 18-hole money match in Las Vegas, posing in a flood of $100 bills as if to remind the world that this is Donald Trump’s favoured pastime. The unscrupulousness of Australia’s leading cricketers in pursuit of victory was exposed for what it has always been: a vandalisation of the game’s values. In rugby union the deaths of young players forced rugby union to start asking itself awkward questions about the modern worship of the “hit”.

There was better, of course. France’s epic 4-3 victory over Argentina in Kazan, decorated by astonishing goals from Ángel Di María and Benjamin Pavard, presented us with the World Cup final that never was. Ireland’s autumn win against the All Blacks set up next year’s Rugby World Cup. And the Oval’s multiple standing ovations for Alastair Cook gave cricket one of its most memorable farewells.

But it was the parade of American female gymnasts that stays in the memory. Their fierce courage lit a fire that will not go out.

• This article was amended on 3 January 2018 because Larry Nassar was the the US gymnasts team’s doctor, not coach as an earlier version described him.