Who is your Sports Personality of the Year?
Tonight 10 British sports stars will fight it out to be crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Voted for by the public, it is a much coveted accolade which every athlete wants to win to round off an already successful year.
But who should win? I take a closer look at the worthy contenders.
Mark Cavendish
Cavendish won five stages of the Tour de France in 2010 – giving the 25-year-old a total of 15 stage wins in his career.
The HTC Colombia rider is yet to claim the green jersey but followed his success in France by winning the point jersey at the Tour of Spain in September.
Known as the “Manx Missile”, Cavendish is only the second Briton to secure a sprint title in one of the top three stage races and is looking to emulate fellow cyclist and 2008 Sports Personality Chris Hoy by lifting the title.
Tom Daley
Already a world and European champion, Daley added to his impressive medal tally in 2010 with victory at the Commonwealth Games.
The 16-year-old won the 10m synchro event with partner Max Brick before going on to claim individual gold in the 10m platform final.
Daley was in last years’ Sports Personality top ten and will be one to watch out for as the 2012 Olympics approaches.
Jessica Ennis
Heptathlete Ennis was a double gold medallist in 2010, topping the podium at the World Indoor Championships in Doha in March and at the European Championships in Barcelona in July.
The 24-year-old did not compete at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, instead choosing to focus on her preparations for the 2011 World Championships and 2012 Olympics.
The Sheffield-born athlete came third at the 2009 Sports Personality contest held in her home city.
David Haye
The WBA World Heavyweight champion survived two challenges to his title in 2010, proving he is class above the rest.
The “Hayemaker” stopped American John Ruiz in April before knocking out fellow Briton Audley Harrison in a much hyped-up clash in November.
The 30-year-old is now looking to take on the revered Ukrainian Klitschko brothers, before retiring from the sport in 2011.
AP McCoy
AP McCoy sealed his fate as the greatest jump jockey in history this year when he won the Grand National on the 15th attempt.
In an illustrious career the 36-year-old has been champion jockey a record 15 times in a row and has ridden over 3,000 winners.
The Northern Irishman is aiming to become the first jockey to lift the Sports Personality of the Year trophy.
Graeme McDowell
Golfer McDowell became Europe’s first U.S. Open champion for 40 years, when he claimed victory at Pebble Beach in June.
Now ranked in the world’s top 10, the 31-year-old also won the final singles match at the Ryder Cup in October, earning the point which secured the trophy for Europe.
The Northern Irishman’s triumph in America made him the first player from the UK to win a major since Paul Lawrie claimed the British Open in 1999. And McDowell could become the first golfer to win Sports Personality since Nick Faldo in 1989.
Graeme Swann
Swann was the England cricket team’s leading wicket taker in their victory over Australia in the World Twenty20 final in 2010.
The 31-year-old also took his first 10-wicket haul in a Test match against Bangladesh, and twice took five wickets or more in an innings in the Tests series against Pakistan.
The ECB Cricketer of the Year Swann is now attempting to help his country to victory over Australia in the Ashes series.
Phil Taylor
Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor has won six major darts titles in 2010, including the World Championship, Premier League and World Matchplay crowns.
Now a 15-time world champion, Taylor has cemented his status as the one of the greatest darts players of all time/
The 50-year-old could become the first from his sport to win Sports Personality should he be voted by the public on Sunday.
Lee Westwood
Westwood became the world’s number one golfer in 2010, ending Tiger Woods’s 281-week reign at the top of the rankings.
The 37-year-old’s season included runner-up finishes at the Masters and the Open and winning two-and-a-half points out of a possible four at the Ryder Cup in October.
Westwood is the first European to top the world rankings since Nick Faldo in 1994 and like McDowell is aiming to take over from Faldo as the last golfer to be crowned Sports Personality.
Amy Williams
Williams became Britain’s first individual Winter Olympics gold medal for 30 years in 2010, with victory in the skeleton bob at the games in Vancouver.
It was the 28-year-old’s first appearance in an Olympics, after missing out on a place four years previously in Turin when fellow Briton Shelley Rudman claimed silver in the same event.
This year Williams has also been appointed an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list, as well as an Honorary Freeman of the City of Bath.
Sports Personality of the Year is on BBC One on Sunday 19 December at 19.00 GMT.
