The BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, or SPOTY for short, is a true British institution. There is something slightly old-fashioned about it, in a good way, and although its allure may have diminished a little in modern times, due to the changing ways we view sport and the advent of social media, it remains event TV that still attracts plenty of viewers.
Millions of people still look forward to watching SPOTY, a true celebration of the year in sport. The awards presentation shows highlights of various sporting achievements, capturing the magic, brilliance and emotion we have been fortunate enough to witness over the calendar year. Viewing figures have dropped rather dramatically over the past few years, with a steady decline for a good number of editions before that, too.
That is an inevitability in the modern age, though and for many SPOTY, whether they watch it live, on catch-up or simply pick and choose which highlights to take in, remains a highlight of the sporting calendar.
SPOTY Winners In Reverse Order
| Edition | Year | Winner | Sport |
|---|---|---|---|
| 72nd | 2025 | Rory McIlroy | Golf |
| 71st | 2024 | Keely Hodgkinson | Athletics |
| 70th | 2023 | Mary Earps | Football |
| 69th | 2022 | Beth Mead | Football |
| 68th | 2021 | Emma Raducanu | Tennis |
| 67th | 2020 | Lewis Hamilton | Formula 1 |
| 66th | 2019 | Ben Stokes | Cricket |
| 65th | 2018 | Geraint Thomas | Cycling |
| 64th | 2017 | Mo Farah | Athletics |
| 63rd | 2016 | Andy Murray | Tennis |
| 62nd | 2015 | Andy Murray | Tennis |
| 61st | 2014 | Lewis Hamilton | Formula 1 |
| 60th | 2013 | Andy Murray | Tennis |
| 59th | 2012 | Bradley Wiggins | Cycling |
| 58th | 2011 | Mark Cavendish | Cycling |
| 57th | 2010 | Tony McCoy | Horse Racing |
| 56th | 2009 | Ryan Giggs | Football |
| 55th | 2008 | Chris Hoy | Cycling |
| 54th | 2007 | Joe Calzaghe | Boxing |
| 53rd | 2006 | Zara Phillips | Eventing |
| 52nd | 2005 | Andrew Flintoff | Cricket |
| 51st | 2004 | Kelly Holmes | Athletics |
| 50th | 2003 | Jonny Wilkinson | Rugby Union |
| 49th | 2002 | Paula Radcliffe | Athletics |
| 48th | 2001 | David Beckham | Football |
| 47th | 2000 | Steve Redgrave | Rowing |
| 46th | 1999 | Lennox Lewis | Boxing |
| 45th | 1998 | Michael Owen | Football |
| 44th | 1997 | Greg Rusedski | Tennis |
| 43rd | 1996 | Damon Hill | Formula 1 |
| 42nd | 1995 | Jonathan Edwards | Athletics |
| 41st | 1994 | Damon Hill | Formula 1 |
| 40th | 1993 | Linford Christie | Athletics |
| 39th | 1992 | Nigel Mansell | Formula 1 |
| 38th | 1991 | Liz McColgan | Athletics |
| 37th | 1990 | Paul Gascoigne | Football |
| 36th | 1989 | Nick Faldo | Golf |
| 35th | 1988 | Steve Davis | Snooker |
| 34th | 1987 | Fatima Whitbread | Athletics |
| 33rd | 1986 | Nigel Mansell | Formula 1 |
| 32nd | 1985 | Barry McGuigan | Boxing |
| 31st | 1984 | Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean | Figure Skating |
| 30th | 1983 | Steve Cram | Athletics |
| 29th | 1982 | Daley Thompson | Athletics |
| 28th | 1981 | Ian Botham | Cricket |
| 27th | 1980 | Robin Cousins | Figure Skating |
| 26th | 1979 | Sebastian Coe | Athletics |
| 25th | 1978 | Steve Ovett | Athletics |
| 24th | 1977 | Virginia Wade | Tennis |
| 23rd | 1976 | John Curry | Figure Skating |
| 22nd | 1975 | David Steele | Cricket |
| 21st | 1974 | Brendan Foster | Athletics |
| 20th | 1973 | Jackie Stewart | Formula 1 |
| 19th | 1972 | Mary Peters | Athletics |
| 18th | 1971 | Princess Anne | Eventing |
| 17th | 1970 | Henry Cooper | Boxing |
| 16th | 1969 | Ann Jones | Tennis |
| 15th | 1968 | David Hemery | Athletics |
| 14th | 1967 | Henry Cooper | Boxing |
| 13th | 1966 | Bobby Moore | Football |
| 12th | 1965 | Tom Simpson | Cycling |
| 11th | 1964 | Mary Rand | Athletics |
| 10th | 1963 | Dorothy Hyman | Athletics |
| 9th | 1962 | Anita Lonsbrough | Swimming |
| 8th | 1961 | Stirling Moss | Formula One |
| 7th | 1960 | David Broome | Show Jumping |
| 6th | 1959 | John Surtees | Motorcycle Racing |
| 5th | 1958 | Ian Black | Swimming |
| 4th | 1957 | Dai Rees | Golf |
| 3rd | 1956 | Jim Laker | Cricket |
| 2nd | 1955 | Gordon Pirie | Athletics |
| 1st | 1954 | Christopher Chataway | Athletics |
Long History
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The first edition of SPOTY was won by Christopher Chataway, a 5,000m runner. You can see all the winners in the table below, but store Chataway’s name away for pub quizzes. His victory in 1954 is all the more interesting because he beat a rather better-known athlete, Roger Bannister, into second place.
Another nice titbit for fans of facts and stats is that Chataway was one of Bannister’s pacemakers when he broke the four-minute mile in May 1954. Bannister’s accomplishment was huge at the time and is the thing all athletics fans remember from that year. However, it was Chataway’s gold in the Commonwealth Games (over three miles), silver at the European Athletics Championships, and, most of all, his 5,000m world record in October of 1954, that earned him his place in Sports Personality history.
His record lasted just 10 days, and his time of 13:51.6 is slower than the current Parkrun record, but his run was televised, captured the public’s imagination and saw him see off Bannister, with show jumper Pat Smythe third.
Back then, the voting system was rather different, with fewer than 15,000 votes cast… by postcard! The concept for the awards was developed by Paul Fox, who was Controller of the BBC between 1967 and 1973. Fox died at the age of 98 in 2024, but SPOTY is his legacy, an idea he had while working on Sportsview.
Sportsview was the forerunner to Sportsnight, the latter being hosted by legends of sport broadcasting David Coleman, Harry Carpenter and Des Lynam, among others. Sportsview began in 1954, and Fox decided at the end of the first series that a review of the year in sport would be a good idea. How right he was.
Of course, SPOTY has grown and changed so much over the years and continues to adapt. Back in 1954, the eponymous award was the only one on offer. Now it is one of many, and while it remains the most prestigious one, there is great interest in the others, too.
Early editions were simple awards ceremonies, with the very first essentially just a special edition of Sportsview that lasted 45 minutes. The modern version of the show lasts two hours and is attended by thousands of members of the public, as well as hundreds of sports stars, including the various nominees.
Awards at SPOTY
The main prize, the one first won by Christopher Chataway and since claimed by greats such as Stirling Moss, Bobby Moore, Seb Coe, Ian Botham, Steve Davis, Nick Faldo, David Beckham and Andy Murray, was the sole honour for the first few editions of Sports Personality.
Two further awards were added in 1960. This core of three remains the most prestigious, and they are certainly the trio with the most history, given that further prizes were not added until 1996.
Core Awards
- Sports Personality – Created in 1954, the OG recognises the sportsperson whose feats have done the most to capture the public’s imagination.
- World Sport Star – The SPOTY awards focus on stars from the UK or those who live and mostly play their sport there. This award, added in 1960, however, is for international stars.
- Team – Also first awarded in 1960, this honours the best team in UK sport.
Newer Honours
In 1996, a fairly self-explanatory Lifetime Achievement award was added to SPOTY. This is open to international stars and was first won by Frank Bruno, with Seve Ballesteros honoured in 1997. Since then, Sir Alex Ferguson, Martina Navratilova, Steve Redgrave, and Usain Bolt are among the stars to have been recognised.
In 1999, three further awards were created. These were the Helen Rollason award for “outstanding achievement in the face of adversity”, the (British) Young Sports Personality award (open to those aged 17 or under at the start of the calendar year, and the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award, recognising the outstanding coach or manager in UK sport.
The most recent prize added to the SPOTY jamboree is now well over 20 years old, with the Unsung Hero prize added in 2003. This award goes to someone who has not received payment for their work, which enables “others to participate in sport” and is won by members of the public doing great work in their community.
In addition to these annual prizes, there have been various ad hoc honours handed out over the years. The first of these went to Don Revie in 1969, the Leeds United manager given the Manager of the Year award. Additionally, there have been special achievement prizes, extra team awards and various other honours as well. Kevin Sinfield was the most recent winner of one of these in 2022 for his work fundraising and “banging the drum”, to use his own words, for MND.
Nomination and Voting
The process for deciding the winner has changed several times over the years, and the different prizes use different mechanisms too. Most of them involve some sort of expert panel initially. Others use the panel to decide the whole process, with, for example, the shortlist for Young SPOTY being selected by judges including BBC representatives, experts from the Youth Sport Trust and even input from Blue Peter! The panel creates a shortlist of 10, then meets to choose the top three, before a secret vote picks the winner.
The major prizes have often had at least some element of a public vote, although some have now reverted to using a panel. The main prize, however, is still decided by the public, as it was all the way back in 1954, although you don’t need to send a postcard anymore!
Typically, the shortlist is revealed in December, with six names decided by a panel of BBC-appointed experts. The panel typically consists of a selection of former sports stars, sports presenters, broadcasters, journalists, personalities, and employees of the BBC.
Voting then takes place online, with a BBC account needed to cast a vote. The voting for some awards begins as soon as the shortlists are revealed. However, for the main prize, voting opens and closes during the show, with the winner revealed as the climax to the awards ceremony.