SPOTY 2013: Can anyone stop Andy Murray?

December is upon us, signalling the imminent arrival of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award (SPOTY). The 60^th anniversary award ceremony will be held in Leeds on the 15^th December and once again the public can vote for its ‘champion of champions’. Although the night can fall into trap of favouring glitz over genuine achievement, and the award continues to fail in recognising the achievement of women in sport, it is nonetheless a huge talking point of the sporting year.

The Pretenders:

AP McCoy. Photo: danheap77 (Flickr)

AP McCoy (Horse Racing): McCoy’s nomination echoes the shocking selection of Ryan Giggs in 2009. The selection committee seems to find it difficult to distinguish between what constitutes as notable achievements for the year and for a career. In November, McCoy, the 2010 SPOTY winner, rode his 4,000^th winner which is a remarkable milestone in his sport. This certainly warrants a lifetime achievement award in the future but not a nomination for this year.  To be honest, I don’t understand why the horses don’t get nominated; at least they do the hard work!

Verdict: I vote ‘neigh’ to McCoy’s nomination and instead would nominate Non Stanford. Stanford won the ITU World Triathlon Championships in London this year, proving that she is an incredible triple-threat athlete who truly earns her wins, rather than sitting on top of a horse.

Christine Ohuruogu (Athletics):Ohuruogu’s 400m gold medal winning performance at the World Athletics Championships is certainly worthy of a SPOTY nomination. However, Ohuruogo’s selection is uncomfortable because of her drug record. Ohuruogu never doped, but she did miss a string of drug tests between 2005 and 2007. This earned her a lifetime Olympic ban by GB athletics, which was subsequently overturned before the 2008 Beijing Olympics. After drugs scandals including Lance Armstrong, any athlete with a murky doping history should not be winning awards.

Verdict: My jaw would drop to the floor in shock if Ohuruogu gets 3rd. I would replace her nomination with Becky James, who won four medals at the World Track Cycling Championships this year. Considering how much we love cyclists why hasn’t James been nominated?

The Dark Horse Contenders:

Ben Ainslie. Photo: Dansk Sejlunion

Sir Ben Ainslie (Sailing): When it comes to British seafaring icons, Ainslie is held in the same category as Sir Francis Drake. He has a loyal fan base and has had previous SPOTY nominations. After leading Oracle Team USA to a miraculous comeback victory in the America’s Cup from an 8-1 deficit to a 9-8 win over Team New Zealand, Ainslie is riding a new wave of adulation.

Verdict: I don’t think he will make third but his place on the shortlist is deserved nonetheless.

Hannah Cockcroft (Athletics): When someone completely dominates their sporting field, they are entirely worthy of high praise and Cockcroft is no exception. She won the 100m and 200m T34 wheelchair sprint at the IPC World Athletics Championship, even breaking the Championship record, which follows on from her excellent performance at the 2012 London Paralympics.

Verdict: Unlikely to make third but, like Ainslie, should still be on the shortlist.

Leigh Halfpenny (Rugby Union): After a superb series win over Australia, it is no surprise that the British and Irish Lions have representation in SPOTY. As ‘Man of the Series’, Halfpenny is understandably the player to represent the efforts of the squad. He kicked a record 21 points in the third test and broke Neil Jenkins’ record for points scored on a Lions tour. He also contributed significantly to Wales’ Six Nations triumph.

Verdict: It would take a significant turnout from both Welsh voters and rugby fans to get Halfpenny third place.

Ian Bell (Cricket): Bell’s performance throughout this summer’s Ashes was simply outstanding. He amassed 562 runs in five tests, had a 62 run average and became the fifth Englishman to score three consecutive Ashes centuries. Bell truly silenced his critics and inspired England to a 3-0 series win.

Verdict: I believe that with a strong voting turnout from cricket fans, Bell could be in with a slight chance of third. I won’t be the one to rule him out.

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Likely contenders for second and third:

Justin Rose (Golf): Initially I had Rose listed as a dark horse. However, after remembering the nomination of three golfers in 2011, with Darren Clarke coming second, I realised that golfers generally do very well in SPOTY. Therefore, I believe that Rose has a real chance of reaching third. Rose played some excellent golf to win the US Open, becoming the first Englishman to win a Major since Nick Faldo in 1996 (the 1989 SPOTY winner).

Verdict: Rose deserves to be on the shortlist and is in with a decent shout of taking home third.

Mo Farah (Athletics): Arguably the most likeable athlete in Britain, Farah had a tremendous summer, becoming the second man in history to achieve a ‘double-double’. Only Kenenisa Bekele has also won gold in the 5000m and 10,000m in both the Olympics and World Athletics Championships. What’s more, Mo also broke Steve Cram’s 1500m GB record.

Verdict: Farah could very well be doing the Mobot on stage with either the second or third place award.

Chris Froome (Cycling): Britain seems to love its cyclists. Chris Hoy won SPOTY in 2008, with Mark Cavendish in 2011 and Bradley Wiggins in 2012 also winning. After winning the jewel in cycling’s crown, the Tour de France, Froome is automatically in serious contention for a SPOTY award.

Verdict: Highly favoured for second or third. The only thing stopping Froome from winning is a certain tennis player from Dunblane.

Andy Murray. Photo: Marianne Bevis (Flickr)

The Nailed-on Favourite:

Andy Murray (Tennis): Some say that Murray is Scottish when he loses and British when he wins. After winning Wimbledon he is most certainly British and is expected to receive an overwhelming proportion of votes from the public. Greg Rusedski won SPOTY in 1997 after losing the US Open Final, proving that the British public are willing to adore anyone who plays tennis at an above average level. Now that we have a world-class Wimbledon winner, I don’t see how Murray can lose. I’m expecting a lot of tears from Judy Murray, Kim Sears and Sue Barker to add to a lengthy standing ovation as he accepts his prize.

George Knight

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Nationality in Sport: Birthplace, Blood or Residence?

Over the past couple of weeks, a storm has brewed up in the sporting world. A storm which threatens the very core of our existence and could lead to the damnation of national identity.

The catalyst for the storm is one Adnan Januzaj, the boy wonder who has burst onto the scene at Manchester United, scoring an emphatic brace against Sunderland. Immediately his face filled the back pages; then a further story emerged. Januzaj, born in Belgium, can potentially play for most of Europe’s national teams – including England.

Somali-born Mo Farah would have been ineligible to represent Team GB at the 2012 Olympics if Jack Wilshere’s comments were taken to their logical conclusion. Photo credits: Jon Connell (via Flickr)

This is because the sport’s governing body FIFA states a player is eligible if “he has lived continuously [in the country] for at least five years after reaching the age of 18.” Currently the teenager has been residing in Blighty for two years; a further three and he can pull on the Three Lions.

But will he wear it with pride? Will his heart bleed England? Surely not. In the wake of this story, Jack Wilshere, England midfielder, tweeted: “If you live in England for five years it doesn’t make you English.” If we follow Wilshere’s theory, only those born in England can play for the national side.

Here we come up against a stumbling block. The assertions of the new FA Chairman, Greg Dyke, that England can win the World Cup in 2022 are based upon the youth talent we currently have. Two names included here are Wilfred Zaha and Raheem Sterling. Zaha was born in the Ivory Coast, Sterling in Jamaica.

Were Wilshere chairman, these players would not be playing for England – thus we could potentially lose valuable resources. Yet they are undeniably more English than Januzaj, having lived here from a younger age. The inclusion of Januzaj would arguably be akin to losing our national heritage.

Once more the path twists and turns though, for what is our national heritage? As a country, England is a melting pot of ethnicity and identity. Our ancestors are probably French for goodness sake! Everywhere you turn, globalisation rears its head. We claim Fish and Chips as our national meal, yet a Lamb Bhuna is equally popular.

Why then can our so called ‘national’ team not represent the reality of everyday life? Look at the dominance of our cricket team. Next month in Brisbane, Kevin Pietersen will make his 100^th test appearance for England, more than such greats of English cricket as Len Hutton, Wally Hammond and Ken Barrington.

Olympic Gold medallist and Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins was born in Belgium. Photo credits: Brendan Ryan (via Flickr)

He has scored more international runs than any other Englishmen; who can forget his Ashes saving 150 against the Aussies at the Oval in 2005. But wait – was he born in rural Yorkshire or the wilderness of Northumbria? No he was born in South Africa, living there until he was 20!

Were I to move to South Africa on my twentieth birthday, I would still count myself English, love the Queen and whip out my penny farthing to peddle on. Yet when Pietersen retires from the game, he will be remembered as a great ‘English’ player, not somebody who jumped ship from his native country.

Were we to state that only sport stars born in England could play for the national team, then a whole plethora of talent would vanish. This applies to London 2012 heroes Farah, Rutherford and Wiggins; Rugby stars Hartley, Tuilagi and Barrett; Laura Robson, Justin Rose, Chris Froome and most of the England cricket team!

As a result, England would be atrocious at almost everything. Yet maybe this is what we need, for the grass roots of English sport would improve immensely. Suddenly all the emphasis would be on development from a young age, bringing players in through academies, benefiting the national team enormously.

I am however a realist. In a world governed by money, there is no way that authorities, in particular FIFA, would bring this into law. Plus, there would be arguments stating its impeachment on the rights of individuals; who are we to declare your national identity?

Celebrated England cricketer Kevin Pietersen was born in South Africa. Photo credits: Nic Redhead (via Flickr)

However, with the case of Januzaj and others I feel we can declare which country you play for. It is very simple. If you have a parent who is English (or indeed British for some sports), then you have a clear link with the country thus can represent them provided you have resided for at least five years in the country.

If you migrate to a country, as with Pietersen etc. then you must have lived there since the start of primary school. That way, the individual has grown up and been immersed in the culture, society and way of living.

Perhaps this is controversial. Yet if sport, and in particular football, carries on in the same vein, then we may as well have World XI’s, for nationality would merely be a line on a passport – and not what it means to the heart.

Alex Whitington, Sports Team

What do you think? Should national representation in sport be dependent on birthplace or are residence, blood or mere free choice equally valid reasons? Have your say in the below poll.

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SPOTY 2012: Wiggins backed by bookies to triumph

The BBC SPOTY trophy – photo credits to Wikimedia Commons

2012 Tour de France victor Bradley Wiggins is the overwhelming favourite to land this weekend’s coveted BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

With multiple bookmakers offering odds as short as 1/3, Wiggins – who combined his historic Tour win with a fourth career Olympic Gold in the men’s road time trial – is widely expected to follow in the footsteps of fellow cycling star and Team Sky teammate Mark Cavendish and scoop the coveted award in a field dominated by medallists from the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Of the other gold medallists in this year’s twelve-strong shortlist for the award, Heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis is the most fancied, with odds of 6/1 to become the first female SPOTY winner since Zara Phillips in 2006. Behind Ennis, many bookies are offering 7/1 for 5,000 and 10,000 metres gold medallist Mo Farah to scoop the prize, with Paralympics stars Ellie Simmonds and David Weir looking like outside bets at around 50/1.

2008 SPOTY winner Chris Hoy meanwhile has been given rather long odds of around 125/1, with Ben Ainslie – the most decorated sailor in Olympic history – looking an even less likely prospect at 200/1. Nicola Adams, who made made history by becoming the first woman to take an Olympic boxing title, and double gold-winning rower Katherine Grainger are both given odds of 250/1, whilst Paralympic cyclist Sarah Storey is considered the least likely recipient of the award with odds of 300/1.

In an ordinary year, the incredible success of Andy Murray, the highlight of which was becoming the first British Grand Slam champion for 76 years at this year’s US Open, would surely merit closer odds than the 12/1 that most bookies are offering; in spite of having also won two Olympic medals, it seems the relatively low profile of tennis within the Olympics has taken its toll on the Scot’s chances. Rory McIlroy, the only candidate in the shortlist not to feature in either the Olympics or Paralympics, is another rank outsider at 100/1 despite becoming the youngest golfer to win two majors since the late Seve Ballesteros this year.

Information provided to Exeposé Online by Prompt Communications reveals a somewhat different picture. In an analysis of nearly 10,000 Facebook and Twitter posts from November 20 to December 13, Weir was the favourite to win with the backing of 36% of social media users, giving the Paralympic wheelchair athlete a five percent advantage over bookies’ favourite Wiggins. Paralympic swimmer Simmonds was third favourite with a reported 20% share of popular support, ahead of Farah on 18%, Grainger on 17%, Murray on 14% and Ennis on 13%.

It is of course the public who will be voting for the winner of the SPOTY award, the recipient of which will be announced on Sunday evening. Who do you think is in with the best chance of scooping honours? Will you be voting for any of the twelve contenders? Are there any athletes absent from the shortlist who you believe warranted inclusion? Leave your answers in the comments box below.

Jamie Klein – additional reporting by Matt Bugler and Lucy Gibson

British sporting summer 2012: Editors' picks

Photo credits to Angela N

As the summer of sport draws to a close, Sports Editors George Hobbs and Jamie Klein take a look back at some of the heroes who made 2012 a year to remember for British sport:

1. Andy Murray (Tennis)

Following his latest Major final defeat at the hands of Roger Federer at Wimbledon, Murray finally cemented his place as a British sporting hero during the Olympics, as he crushed the same Swiss who had rolled him over on the very same court in SW19 just four weeks prior.  That Gold Medal seemed to free Murray from the shackles of his ‘perpetual bottler’ image and thirty-six days later he clinched his first Major at the US Open in imperious fashion, edging Novak Djokovic in a thrilling final.

2. Mo Farah (Athletics)

On ‘Super Saturday’, Farah ignited the Olympic Stadium and the whole of Britain by surging to victory on the last lap of the 10,000m.  An event seemingly monopolised by Kenyans and Ethiopians over recent years, Farah became the first British gold medallist in the event ever.  His win in the 5000m the following week was equally composed, whilst his celebratory ‘Mo-bot’ pose ranks alongside Usain Bolt’s ‘To Di World’ salute as iconic images of the London Games.

3. Bradley Wiggins (Cycling)

 

Wiggins successfully ended an agonising 99-year wait for a British winner in the Tour de France, never losing the lead of the general classification that he picked up on the seventh stage. ‘Wiggo’ held on to win the Tour by a margin of three minutes from fellow Team Sky rider Chris Froome, before taking the fourth Olympic gold medal of his career in the Men’s road time trial event at London 2012.

4. Rory McIlroy (Golf)

The loyal British sporting public can be forgiven for not giving golf equal attention this summer. While Emma Bunton’s head was popping out of a black cab in a stadium in Stratford, Rory McIlroy was cruising to his second Major victory in South Carolina.  Fourteen months after his US Open win – also by eight shots – Northern Ireland’s finest was at it again, pulling away on a windy Sunday as America’s best could only watch and admire.

5. Jessica Ennis (Athletics)

 

Ennis more than lived up to her billing as the ‘poster girl’ of the London Games, winning the gold medal in the Heptathlon with consummate ease. She set three personal bests – in the 100 metres hurdles, 200 metres and javelin events – en route to a British record-breaking points haul of 6,955 that put her 308 points clear of silver medallist Lili Schwarzkopf.

6. Johnnie Peacock (Athletics)

If the face of the Olympics was Ennis, then the face of the Paralympics was unquestionably Peacock.  The nineteen year old stormed to victory in the T44 100m, beating the ‘blade-runner’ Oscar Pistorius in the process, and affirmed his status as the fastest amputee in the world.  His winning time of 10.90 was just five hundredths of a second off his own world record and capped a remarkable few weeks for British athletics.

7. Lewis Hamilton (Formula One)

Two wins from the last three races have served to put Hamilton firmly back in the running for this year’s Formula One championship. The McLaren driver headed into the summer break on a high note after fending off the advances of Kimi Raikkonen to take victory at the Hungaroring, whilst a dominant display from Hamilton at Monza has put him within reach of the points lead of Fernando Alonso.

8. Jonathan and Alistair Brownlee (Triathlon)

The Yorkshire-born Brownlee Brothers made history by becoming the first British siblings to both win medals in an individual event at the same games since 1900. That they did it in such a gruelling event as the triathlon, and considering Johnny had a time penalty mid-way through the run, makes their 1-3 finish all the more remarkable – their mother must be so proud.

9. Laura Robson (Tennis)

Robson’s recent performances have breathed new life into British women’s tennis – after accompanying Murray all the way to the mixed doubles final at London 2012, Robson then proceeded to defy all expectations at the US Open. She beat two former grand slam winners in Kim Clijsters and Li Na before being halted by reigning champion Sam Stosur in the fourth round.

10. Cal Crutchlow (Motorcycling)

It had been 12 long years since a Brit stood on the podium in a MotoGP race, making Crutchlow’s mature ride to third place at Brno worthy of mention. A maiden rostrum finish was a just reward for beating more experienced teammate Andrea Dovizioso in a straight fight; with a more competitive bike Crutchlow could yet become the first British MotoGP winner since Barry Sheene in 1981.