There’s no dream walk over for an England World Cup winning player or Andy Murray strolling to the podium to collect the trophy after his victorious summer in Wimbledon. Instead it’s going to be a year for the “small sports”, which in a way is great to see. Last year the award was hijacked as a career achievement award for Ryan Giggs so it’s nice to see a short-list of people where that won’t happen. We have a short list this year of a cyclist, 3 Olympic athletes, 2 golfers, a darts star, a boxing champ, a jockey and cricketer. So who is going to take home the prize this year then?
Mark Cavendish
After a place on the 2009 short list Mark Cavendish is back. The sprint rider had quite a successful 2010. Despite a fall in the first sprint stage of the Tour De France he recovered to take 5 stage wins and finish second in the point classification. This was then followed up by a points win in the Tour of Spain. 2010 might not have been Cavendish’s most successful in terms of public visibility what with no Olympics or world championships to get national TV coverage. However he is well known and the lack of big name, main stream sport stars is a positive for him.
Tom Daley
Daley actually had a somewhat disappointing start to 2010. He came 2nd in the British championships in February and then failed to qualify for a World Series event in April. A tricep injury prevented Daley from defending his individual 10 metre title in the European Championships in August. However he recovered to claim the individual and synchronised 10 metre gold medals in Delhi. Daley has twice won Young Sports Personality and is one of the most recognisable names on this list. A favourite to be sure.
David Haye
The WBA world heavyweight champion had 2 successful defences of his title vs. John Ruiz in April and recently against Audley Harrison in a packed out O2 arena. While the fight against one of the Klitschko brothers is yet to materialise Haye has talked the talk when it comes to promises of unifying the heavyweight division. He seems to be keen to take the fight to the big Ukrainians but has pulled out of a fight with them before. A BBC Sports Personality award might have to wait until his arm is raised in victory over at least one of them.
Tony McCoy
The Champion jump jockey finally won the Grand National at his 15th attempt when he rode Don’t Push It home in April. McCoy has a career sheet second to none and has won every title a jockey can. 2010 hasn’t been the most successful year of his career with 195 winners but he’s a very open and likeable man with a bigger following outside of his sport than most of the short list candidates and could well take this.
Graeme Swann
After a key role in England’s successful 2009 Ashes victory Graeme Swann stamped his name across everything England did in 2010. Named ECB Cricketer of the year in May and among Wisden’s 2010 cricketers of the year the off-spinner is firmly among the world’s elite. With England now down under and trying to retain the Ashes a lot of the build-up was focused on Swann and what he could do. In the first test it was very little. With 2 more Test Matches between now and the live vote on the 19th his performances in Australia could well influence the voters much more than the rest of his 2010 fireworks will.
Phil Taylor
Perhaps the most deserving nominee this year Phil “The Power” Taylor has dominated the Darts world for years. He secured his 15th world championship in January. One of the most friendly “lesser sport” players around you’ll often see Taylor appearing on Question of Sport and a like. There has been a big movement in recent years to get this man the nation wide recognition his continued excellence deserves and it seems to be paying off.
Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell
For brevities sake let’s deal with the golfers together. Lee Westwood put together a strong 2010 with 2nd place finishes in The Open and Masters. Eventually taking over the World Number 1 crown from Tiger Woods at the end of October. McDowell became Europe’s first US Open champion in 40 years when he won his first major in June. Both men were part of Europe’s successful Ryder Cup team. While either man would be a worthy winner the presence of another golfer hurts the others chances as it is likely to split the vote of golf fans.
Jessica Ennis
The poster girl for the 2012 Olympics had a fabulous 2010. A Dominant gold medal performance in European championships heptathlon capped of a good year for Ennis that started with an incredible British record for the 60 metre indoor hurdles. Ennis was one of several high profile athletes that decided to stay away from the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Had she gone there could well have been another high profile gold medal to help her campaign but she is undoubtedly popular among the British public and will be one of the favourites.
Amy Williams
It was a long time ago that Amy Williams was dominating the back pages as she slid her way to Great Britain’s first individual Winter Olympics gold in 30 years in Vancouver. During her successful runs Williams broke the course record for the Skeleton Bob twice. Her success was a great one but January was a long time ago and a lot has happened since. She’s got to be an outsider for this.
The Verdict
My heart says Phil “The Power” Taylor but my head says Daley or Ennis. As the leading hopes for gold in London 2012 they have the star power factor to get the phones buzzing on the 19th December. While Taylor's CV is the most complete of anyone on the short-list Darts is scoffed at by many as merely a pub game and without the big football or rugby stars it's likely that the voters turn to British athletes. Swann would be an outside shot at the moment. Plying his trade on the other side of the world while most of us sleep is very unlikely to help.
No comments:
Post a Comment