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The BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards return this week as British fans vote for their favourite sporting star of 2024.
An expert panel of judges have pulled together an initial shortlist of candidates, before BBC viewers participate in a public vote on the BBC website during tonight’s show to decide the winner.
Other awards on the night will include overseas sportsperson, team of the year, sporting moment and unsung hero, while cycling legend Mark Cavendish has been confirmed for the lifetime achievement award after breaking the record for most Tour de France stage wins.
The Sports Personality of the Year awards were first introduced by the BBC in 1954 and have been running ever since. England goalkeeper Mary Earps won last year’s award after the Lionesses reached the World Cup final to ensure three female SPOTY winners in a row for just the second time in the award’s history.
Betting sites have priced up the six nominees with the golden girl of British athletics a strong favourite to take home the prize.
Here are the odds for the six contenders:
In her short career to date the 22-year-old had already gathered world and Olympic silver medals in the 800m, but this time she arrived at a major championships with golden expectations after a stellar season. Hodgkinson did not disappoint, streaming away from her rivals on the blue Stade de France track and bursting with emotion as she crossed the line, realising her achievement. For British fans, it was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the Games.
The year featured a number of highlights, kicking off with 16-year-old Luke Littler reaching the final of the World Darts Championship, and falling just short of an astonishing victory. The prodigy has since proved that was no fluke with a string of trophies and a rise to the top five of the world rankings, instigating a nationwide darts boom in the process. The prices on betting apps suggest he’s the only serious challenger to Hodgkinson.
Root made history in style as he surpassed Alastair Cook’s mark of 12,472 runs to become England’s leading scorer in Test cricket with a career best 262 against Pakistan. Also in that Test, he and Harry Brook set an England record partnership of 454, while earlier in the year Root broke Cook’s milestone for the most Test centuries by an England batter. He’s now fifth on the all-time list of Test run scorers and became the first Englishman to surpass 20,000 international runs across formats.
The triathlete enjoyed a stunning 2024 in which he was crowned both Olympic and world champion. At the Paris Games he produced a magnificent sprint finish to overtake New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde in the closing stages of the run to win his first individual Olympic gold. He then went on to be part of the Great Britain team that won bronze in the mixed relay. Yee’s dominance extended to the World Triathlon Series with victories in Cagliari and Weihai helping him claim the first world title of his career after a succession of near misses in recent years.
In his debut season at the Bernabeu, Bellingham helped Real Madrid win the La Liga title and the Champions League, contributing a remarkable 23 goals across all competitions. He also scored twice on England’s route to the Euros final, including a brilliant bicycle kick against Slovakia. His success saw him finish third in the Ballon d’Or voting, the highest position by an Englishman since Frank Lampard came second in 2005. He was named as LaLiga Player of the Season and Champions League Young Player of the Season, as well as collecting the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year award.
Storey won her 19th Paralympic gold medal in the women’s C5 cycling time trial, an astonishing 32 years after winning her first gold in Barcelona in 1992 as a 14-year-old swimmer.
odds via Oddschecker
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Source: independent.co.uk
