BBC Sports Personality of the Year
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The BBC Sports Personality of the Year award has been given to one British sportsperson each year since 1954. The award is organised by the BBC and is voted for by the public, and was conceived by the BBC producer Paul Fox. It is the most prestigious all-sport award in British sport, and is held towards the end of the calendar year. The only people to win the award twice are the boxer Henry Cooper and the Formula One drivers Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill. A number of other awards are presented at the ceremony including the team, young personality and overseas personality awards.
Despite the existence of a separate "Overseas Sports Personality of the Year Award", non-British nationals are not exempt from the main prize. Irishman Barry McGuigan won the Award in 1985, and Italian jockey Frankie Dettori finished in third place in the voting in 1996, for example. However both of these men made much of their careers in the UK.
The 2005 programme was criticised for keeping the England cricket team from their beds in Pakistan, as they appeared during the ceremony live via satellite. This was despite the fact that they had a match to play the following day, which they went on to lose.
List of winners
- 1954: Christopher Chataway (long-distance runner)
- 1955: Gordon Pirie (middle-distance runner)
- 1956: Jim Laker (cricketer)
- 1957: Dai Rees (golfer)
- 1958: Ian Black (swimmer)
- 1959: John Surtees (motor bike racer)
- 1960: David Broome (show jumper)
- 1961: Stirling Moss (racing driver)
- 1962: Anita Lonsborough (swimmer)
- 1963: Dorothy Hyman (sprinter)
- 1964: Mary Rand (long jumper)
- 1965: Tom Simpson (cyclist)
- 1966: Bobby Moore (footballer)
- 1967: Henry Cooper (boxer)
- 1968: David Hemery (athlete)
- 1969: Ann Jones (tennis player)
- 1970: Henry Cooper (boxer)
- 1971: Princess Anne (three-day eventer)
- 1972: Mary Peters (pentathlete)
- 1973: Jackie Stewart (racing driver)
- 1974: Brendan Foster (long-distance runner)
- 1975: David Steele (cricketer)
- 1976: John Curry (figure skater)
- 1977: Virginia Wade (tennis player)
- 1978: Steve Ovett (middle-distance runner)
- 1979: Sebastian Coe (middle-distance runner)
- 1980: Robin Cousins (figure skater)
- 1981: Ian Botham (cricketer)
- 1982: Daley Thompson (decathlete)
- 1983: Steve Cram (middle-distance runner)
- 1984: Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean (ice dancers)
- 1985: Barry McGuigan (boxer)
- 1986: Nigel Mansell (racing driver)
- 1987: Fatima Whitbread (javelin thrower)
- 1988: Steve Davis (snooker player)
- 1989: Nick Faldo (golfer)
- 1990: Paul Gascoigne (footballer)
- 1991: Liz McColgan (long-distance runner)
- 1992: Nigel Mansell (racing driver)
- 1993: Linford Christie (100m sprinter)
- 1994: Damon Hill (racing driver)
- 1995: Jonathan Edwards (triple jumper)
- 1996: Damon Hill (racing driver)
- 1997: Greg Rusedski (tennis player)
- 1998: Michael Owen (footballer)
- 1999: Lennox Lewis (boxer)
- 2000: Steve Redgrave (rower)
- 2001: David Beckham (footballer)
- 2002: Paula Radcliffe (long-distance runner)
- 2003: Jonny Wilkinson (rugby union player)
- 2004: Kelly Holmes (middle-distance runner)
- 2005: Andrew Flintoff (cricketer)
List of other BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards
- BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award
- BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality
- BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award
- BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award
- BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award
- BBC Sports Personality of the Year Young Personality
- BBC Sports Personality of the Year Unsung Hero Award
- 1999, Muhammad Ali is given the one-off BBC Sports Personality of the Century Award
- 2005, Lord Coe is given a special award for his role in securing the 2012 Summer Olympics with the London bid
See also
External links
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