BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award is the main award of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony, which takes place each December. The winner is the sportsperson, judged by a public vote, to have achieved the most that year. The recipient must either be British or reside and play a significant amount of their sport in the United Kingdom. The winner is selected from a pre-determined shortlist. The most recent award-winner is Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton, who won in 2020.
| BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Awarded for | Excellence in sporting achievement |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Presented by | BBC Sport |
| First awarded | 30 December 1954 |
| Website | www |
History
Sports Personality of the Year was created by Paul Fox, who thought of the idea while he was editor of the magazine show Sportsview. The first award ceremony took place in 1954 as part of Sportsview, and was presented by Peter Dimmock.[1] For the first show, votes were sent by postcard, and rules presented in a Radio Times article stipulated that nominations were restricted to athletes who had featured on the Sportsview programme since April. Approximately 14,500 votes were cast, and Christopher Chataway beat Roger Bannister to win the inaugural BBC Sportsview's Personality of the Year Award.[2]
Nomination procedure
The shortlist is announced a few weeks before the award ceremony, and the winner is determined on the night by a public telephone and on-line vote. Prior to 2012, a panel of 30 sports journalists each submitted a list of 10 contenders. From these contenders a shortlist of ten nominees was determined. This method was criticized following the selection of an all-male shortlist in 2011. The selection process for contenders was changed for the 2012 and subsequent awards by the introduction of an expert panel. The panel produces a shortlist that reflects UK sporting achievements on the national and/or international stage, represents the breadth and depth of UK sports and takes into account 'impact' within and beyond the sport or sporting achievement in question.
Winners
Five people have won the award more than once: tennis player Andy Murray is the only person to have won three times (in addition to the Young Sports Personality and Team awards), while boxer Henry Cooper and Formula One drivers Nigel Mansell, Lewis Hamilton and Damon Hill have each won twice.[3] Eight people have twice finished second without ever winning, including Bobby Charlton and Sally Gunnell (Gunnell also finished third once). Jessica Ennis-Hill holds the record for most top three placements without a win; having finished second once and third three times. Both Charlton (2008) and Ennis-Hill (2017), received the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award.
Princess Anne (1971) and her daughter Zara Phillips (2006) are the only award-winners to be members of the same family. The oldest recipient of the award is Dai Rees, who won in 1957 aged 44. Ian Black, who won the following year, aged 17, is the youngest winner.[3] Torvill and Dean, who won in 1984, are the only non-individual winners of the award, so in the 65 years of the award there have been 66 recipients. Of these 13 have been female.[4] 17 sporting disciplines have been represented; athletics has the highest representation, with 17 recipients. Counting Torvill and Dean separately, there have been 48 English winners of the award, six Scottish,[5] five Welsh,[6] three Northern Irish,[7][8] and one Manx. Since the award ceremony began only on one occasion (2013) have none of the podium placers been English. On three occasions a sportsman from outside the United Kingdom has made the podium, on each occasion for sporting success achieved in Great Britain; New Zealand speedway star Barry Briggs (1964 and 1966) and Italian jockey Frankie Dettori (1996). Barry McGuigan, Greg Rusedski and Lennox Lewis originally competed for Ireland (McGuigan) and Canada (Rusedski and Lewis) respectively, but had completed their transfer of allegiance to Great Britain by the time of their awards.
Awards by year
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By sport
This table lists the total number of awards won by the winner's sport.
Accurate up-to and including the 2020 award.
| Sport | First place(s) | Second place(s) | Third place(s) | Total placing(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athletics | 18 | 14 | 20 | 52 |
| Formula One | 8 | 9 | 1 | 18 |
| Tennis | 6 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| Football | 5 | 7 | 10 | 22 |
| Boxing | 5 | 4 | 1 | 10 |
| Cricket | 5 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
| Cycling | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Figure skating | 3[nb 1] | 1[nb 1] | 0 | 4 |
| Golf | 2 | 5 | 2 | 9 |
| Swimming | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10 |
| Eventing | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Snooker | 1 | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| Rugby union | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Rowing | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Motorcycle racing | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Show jumping | 1 | 0 | 6 | 7 |
| Horse racing | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| Sailing | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Speedway | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Rugby league | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Triathlon | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Darts | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| CART | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Gymnastics | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Rallying | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 67 | 65 | 65 |
By number of awards
The below table lists all people who have finished in the top three places more than once.
| Recipient | First place(s) | Second place(s) | Third place(s) | Total placings(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andy Murray | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 2 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| Nigel Mansell | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Henry Cooper | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Damon Hill | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Steve Davis | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Ian Botham | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Sebastian Coe | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| David Beckham | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Daley Thompson | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Steve Redgrave | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Linford Christie | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Dorothy Hyman | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Stirling Moss | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Torvill and Dean | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Fatima Whitbread | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Steve Cram | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Tony McCoy | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Ian Black | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Mo Farah | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Andrew Flintoff | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Anita Lonsbrough | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Bobby Moore | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Michael Owen | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Paula Radcliffe | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Sally Gunnell | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Barry Briggs | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Frank Bruno | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Darren Clarke | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Bobby Charlton | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Tony Jacklin | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Denise Lewis | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Ellen MacArthur | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Jessica Ennis-Hill | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| George Best | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Jim Clark | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Marion Coakes | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Colin Jackson | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| David Wilkie | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
By nationality
| Nation | First place(s) | Second place(s) | Third place(s) | Total placings(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 48 | 51 | 42 | 141 |
| Scotland | 7 | 3 | 8 | 18 |
| Wales | 5 | 1 | 7 | 13 |
| Northern Ireland | 2 | 5 | 4 | 11 |
| Isle of Man | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Other | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
Notes
- Torvill and Dean are the figure skating pair Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean. For the summary tables they are treated as one winner of the award.[18]
- In 1991 Bob Nudd received the most votes—more than 100,000—following a campaign in the Angling Times.[37] However the BBC deemed an organised vote to be against the rules.[38]
- In 1996, Justin Fashanu received a large number of votes following a campaign in Gay Times. However the BBC deemed this to be against the rules and disqualified him from the award.[43][44]
References
General
- "BBC Sports Personality of the Year: previous winners". BBC. December 2007. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
- Neale, Richard (14 December 2008). "Chris Hoy named BBC Sports Personality of the Year". The Times. London. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
- Viner, Brian (13 December 2008). "Sports Personality of the Year: Should it be her (or him?)". The Independent. Archived from the original on 15 December 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
- Lawton, James (13 December 2003). "BBC Sports Personalities of the Year: Poll misses point as Gazza's tears beat The King's sidestep". The Independent. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
Specific
- "Peter Dimmock". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 November 2000. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
- Marcus, Laurence (2005). "Sports Personality of the Year". televisionheaven.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 May 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
- "50th Sports Personality of the Year: Facts and figures". BBC. 11 November 2003. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
- Kessel, Anna (9 November 2008). "BBC battle of the sexes". The Observer. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- Pattullo, Alan; McGill, Jim (16 December 2008). "Sir Jackie and McColgan lead the way in praising winner's fantastic achievement". The Scotsman. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- Prosser, Michael (20 December 2007). "Golf: Joe's success mirrors Dai's big day". WalesOnline.co.uk. Media Wales. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
- Hubbard, Alan (10 December 2000). "Denise plays the dame game". The Independent. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- "BBC Sports Personality". Virgin Media. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- Baker, Andrew (13 December 2008). "Action Replay: Christopher Chataway wins first BBC Sports Personality of the Year award". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- "BBC Sports Personality of the Year: previous winners". BBC. December 2007. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
- "Jim Laker". Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
- "Sportsman of the Year". The Times. 12 December 1957. p. 15.
- "Black an original Scottish sporting icon". The Scotsman. 13 December 2008. Retrieved 14 January 2009.
- "Sports Personality of the Year". Radio Times. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
- Davies, Gareth A. (11 December 2008). "Joe Calzaghe fulfilled by BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
- Hayes, Alex (13 December 1998). "Vox Pop: Six past winners of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award give their choices for 1998". The Independent. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/sports-personality/24583226
- "The OSM lowdown on...BBC Sports Personality of the Year". The Observer. 2 December 2001. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
- Gillon, Doug (13 October 2008). "Mary rand wins long-jump gold". The Herald. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
- Gallagher, Brendan (3 August 2007). "Tom Simpson haunts Tour 40 years on". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
- Griffiths, Danny (12 February 2009). "Different eras, both great figures". Metro. Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- Viner, Brian (13 December 2003). "Sir Henry Cooper: Nation still reveres Cooper as lord of the ring". The Independent. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
- Keating, Frank (14 October 2008). "Hemery, Beamon and Smith lead my parade". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/shared/spl/hi/tv_and_radio/02/sport_personality/past_winners/html/1969.stm
- Corrigan, Peter (14 December 2003). "Bravo for Jonny but Beeb need new act". The Independent. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
- Davies, Gareth A. (21 August 2007). "My Sport: Brendan Foster". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/sports-personality/24642779
- Hookham, Richard (16 December 2008). "Top Five... odd Sports Personality Winners". Metro. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/sports-personality/19587151
- "Steve Ovett". UK Athletics. Archived from the original on 17 June 2009. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- "Steve Cram". UK Athletics. Archived from the original on 31 May 2009. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- Stevenson, Sandra (14 February 2004). "Ice skating: Frozen in time". The Independent. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- Philip, Robert (5 December 2007). "Gary Lineker's dog days now a distant memory". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
- Jackson, Jamie (2 March 2003). "Triumph and despair: Fatima Whitbread". The Observer. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- Wilson, Jeremy (16 April 2009). "Snooker's Steve Davis ready to return to the Crucible". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- Stewart, Rob (14 February 2008). "The life and times of Paul Gascoigne". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- "Alternative Sports Personality of the Year 2001: 5. Bob Nudd". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. 2001. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
- https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2020/06/02/angling-world-champion-bob-nudd-relishes-return-water/
- "Mansell, Sports Personality of the Year". The Independent. Independent News & Media. 14 December 1992. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- "Linford Christie said yesterday that he may defend his Olympic 100 metres title in Atlanta in 1996". The Independent. 14 December 1993. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- Viner, Brian (13 December 2008). "Sports Personality of the Year: Should it be her (or him?)". The Independent. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- Rowbottom, Mike (19 December 2000). "Edwards in the exalted company of Shearer". The Independent. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- "Bramwell Speaks Out: Auntie's social club mars personality prize". Lancashire Evening Telegraph. 12 December 1996. Archived from the original on 9 February 2010. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- Corrigan, James (8 December 2002). "Sport on TV: And the losers are... personalities". The Independent on Sunday.
- Hayes, Alex (11 July 1999). "Motor Racing: Damon Hill – Laps And Lapses of a Boy Racer". The Independent. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- Reade, Brian (19 December 1997). "Personality bypass for TV turkeys; The column that puts the boot into sport". The Mirror. Questia Online Library Encyclopedia. Retrieved 3 February 2009.
- "Welsh boxing champ pips Lewis to Sports Personality Award". Hello!. 10 December 2007. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- Gray, Chris (11 December 2000). "Redgrave voted Sports Personality of the Year". The Independent. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- Mott, Sue (10 December 2001). "Sports Personality award mixed blessing for Beckham". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- Knight, Tom (9 December 2002). "Radcliffe to defend her London title". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- Leach, Conrad (15 December 2003). "Sports Personalities of the Year: Wilkinson wins BBC award". The Independent. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- Rowbottom, Mike (13 December 2004). "Sports Awards: Holmes wins BBC Sports Personality of the Year". The Independent. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- Fraser, Angus (12 December 2005). "Flintoff's perfect year capped by top sports award". The Independent. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- Corrigan, James (11 December 2006). "Phillips is surprise winner of top Sports Personality award". The Independent. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- Bolton, Paul (10 December 2007). "Calzaghe is BBC Sports Personality of the Year". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- Kelso, Paul (14 December 2008). "Chris Hoy named BBC Sports Personality of the Year". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- Giggs, Ryan (13 December 2009). "BBC Sport – Sports Personality of the Year – Ryan Giggs wins 2009 BBC Sports Personality award". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2009.
- McCoy, AP (19 December 2010). "Jockey AP McCoy wins BBC Sports Personality of the Year". BBC. Archived from the original on 20 December 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
- "BBC Sport – Sports Personality of the Year 2011: Mark Cavendish wins top award". BBC News. 22 December 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
- "Bradley Wiggins wins BBC Sports Personality of the Year". BBC Sport. 16 December 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
- "Andy Murray wins BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2013". BBC Sport. 15 December 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
- "Lewis Hamilton wins BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2014". BBC Sport. 14 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- "Andy Murray wins BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2015 – as it happened!". The Guardian Online. 20 December 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
- "BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2016: Andy Murray wins for a record third time". BBC Sport. 18 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
- "BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2017: World 10,000m champion Mo Farah wins". BBC. 17 December 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
- "Sports Personality of the Year winner: Geraint Thomas triumphs after Tour de France success". BBC. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
- "Sports Personality of the Year 2019: Ben Stokes crowned winner". BBC. 15 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- "Hamilton wins 2020 BBC Sports Personality of the Year - reaction". BBC. 20 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.