BBC Sports Personality of the Year

BBC Sports Personality of the Year

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of just one award. Several new awards have been introduced, and currently eight awards are presented. Special Achievement Awards have been presented on five occasions.

About BBC Sports Personality of the Year in brief

Summary BBC Sports Personality of the YearThe BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of just one award. Several new awards have been introduced, and currently eight awards are presented. In 2003, the 50th anniversary of the show was marked by a five-part series on BBC One called Simply the Best – Sports Personality. The event was held outside London for the first time in 2006, when tickets were made available to the public. The trophy for the main award is a silver-plated four-turret lens camera, and for the other awards smaller imitations of the main trophy are used. All of the BBC local regions hold their own independent award ceremonies, which take place before the main ceremony and are used to compile a shortlist for the BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award. The show was presented by Peter Dimmock until 1960, when he was replaced by David Coleman. Frank Bough took over as presenter in 1964 and presented Sports Review for 18 years. David Coleman joined the show the following year and remained a co-presenter until 1983. Special Achievement Awards have been presented on five occasions: to jockey Lester Piggott in 1984 and 1994, disabled marathon runner Dennis Moore in 1981, comedian David Walliams in 2006 and Eddie Izzard in 2009. Sebastian Coe picked up a Special Gold Award in 2005 for his work in helping Britain obtain the right to host the 2012 Olympics.

In 1980, Great Britain’s men’s 400 m relay team finished in the top five on three occasions, at which time they became the first non-individual winners of the award. Steve Davis took the top award in 1980, with the men’s 4 x 400m relay team finishing in top five in three of the next five years. In 1986, Steve Rider replaced Bough as co-host and presided over the figure skating duo Dean Torvill and Torvill. During the 1970s Bough and Cliff Morgan presented the ceremony alongside Jimmy Hill, Cliff Morgan, Kenneth Wolstenholme, and Harry Carpenter, who went on to present the show until 1985. In 1969, a new Manager of the year award was given to Don Revie for his achievements with Leeds United, the only occasion it was presented. The first Lifetime Achievement Award was first given in 1995 and again in 1996, and has been presented annually since 2001. In 1999, three more awards were introduced: the Helen Rollason Award, the Coach Award, and the Newcomer Award, which was renamed to Young Sports Personality Of The Year in 2001. Five awards have also been presented once: Manager of. the Year in 1969, Special Team Award in 1986, Good Sport Awards in 1990, an International team Award in 1983, and Sports Personality of the Century Award in 1999. For the inaugural BBC Sportsperson of the. Year award, 14,517 votes were cast and Christopher Chataway beat fellow athlete Roger Bannister.