I'm not sure if I had it or not but I did have what I thought at the time was a nasty cold around february last year and in retrospect it does seem like a reasonable assumption to make. It wiped me out for a week so if I did have it it wasn't pleasant but I must've had a mild version.

I often get a sore throat for a few days before any other cold symptoms show up, although I didn't get it last year when I might have had covid.