2020 will be a year few people look back on with fondness, but for one of Britain’s biggest sporting stars, it will be one they’ll never forget.
The winner of the 2020 Sports Personality Of The Year award will be revealed this December, and we’ve cast our eye over the latest SPOTY betting…
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It’s set to be a scaled back Sports Personality of the Year contest this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A glaring spring and summer shortage of some of our favourite sporting events has made this year’s shortlist particularly hard to compile.
However, the BBC has still managed to pick out six stellar candidates to lift one of the most coveted prizes in British sport.
This year’s Sports Personality betting boasts an overwhelming favourite in Lewis Hamilton (2/5), but the British public have shown they can be swayed by an underdog on Sports Personality night itself.
Will anyone be able to stop the British F1 champ lifting the trophy for a second time?
LEWIS HAMILTON
🏆 LATEST SPOTY ODDS: 2/5 🏆
WHY WILL HE WIN? This season looks the culmination of a career’s work, with only the mighty Michael Schumacher able to rival him in terms of his driving CV.
Good timing might aid his chances, with his latest Drivers’ Championship win still fresh in the memory by the time the ceremony arrives.
He’s red-hot favourite, and probably deservedly so given his record-breaking year, but could that be a curse if he’s already seen as the winner-elect?
WHY WON’T HE WIN? The familiarity factor. Hamilton has won this prize before and has been runner-up the last two years.
Is he almost too good for this trophy now? The British public may decide to look elsewhere if he already seems a dead cert on the night.
There’s also the perception among non-F1 fans, unfairly, that it’s the car as much as his impeccable driving talent that has helped him scale new heights.
TYSON FURY
🏆 LATEST SPOTY ODDS: 31/5 🏆
WHY WILL HE WIN? Everybody loves a comeback story, and few are better than Fury’s rise back to the top.
The ‘Gypsy King’ capped off his return to the peak of his sport by becoming a two-time world heavyweight champion as he saw off Deontay Wilder back in February – a sporting resurrection that looked somewhat unlikely a few years back.
Fury boasts charisma in spades, which could win over neutrals on the night. Viewers may just connect with the back story as much as his boxing credentials.
WHY WON’T HE WIN? His big 2020 sporting moment came in a ‘pre-COVID’ world, which for many casual sports fans, will seem light years ago. He’s also claimed, quite publicly he has no interest in the award as a ‘people’s champion’.
A cynic might say that’s a dare to the British public to defy his wishes.
Whether that line holds, expect him to bring the personality to this year’s proceedings.
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN
🏆 LATEST SPOTY ODDS: 31/5 🏆
WHY WILL HE WIN? Frankly, it’s a scandal he has never come close to winning this trophy.
However, if viewers are in a ‘lifetime achievement’ frame of mind, this might finally be the year they reward the Rocket for a remarkable 20 or so years of consistency at the top of his sport. AP McCoy was rewarded in this ceremony for his long career after finally landing the Grand National in 2010.
Sullivan could win an overdue SPOTY award in a similar vein after becoming the oldest World Snooker Champion at the Crucible in 2020.
WHY WON’T HE WIN? The niche sport ‘penalty’. Like it or not, snooker isn’t the big draw it once was during the 70s and 80s. That means O’Sullivan’s achievements probably don’t get the widespread airing that his sporting predecessors enjoyed.
That means the Rocket could have a tough time mobilising voters, particularly with F1, football and boxing fans to contend with. However, his occasionally eccentric personality should mean he at least stands out on the night.
That could still make him value in the SPOTY odds should Hamilton not have this prize in the bag.
JORDAN HENDERSON
🏆 LATEST SPOTY ODDS: 53/4 🏆
WHY WILL HE WIN? Liverpool’s midfield lynchpin has now won a Premier League trophy and Champions League trophy in the space of two years. That’s not bad for a player who was seen as something of a misfit in his early days at Anfield.
He’ll also have a significant voting block to push him into the reckoning should, as expected, Liverpool’s hefty supporter base back their captain on the night.
WHY WON’T HE WIN? His nomination looks to be more a wider acknowledgment of his team’s incredible feats over the last 18 months or so, rather than Hendo’s individual contribution.
Footballers also seem to have a fairly wretched record in this competition given the sport’s global pulling power, with Ryan Giggs and David Beckham the only winners from the sport in over 20 years.
HOLLIE DOYLE
🏆 LATEST SPOTY ODDS: 16/1 🏆
WHY WILL SHE WIN? Doyle’s consistency alone makes her a compelling candidate to take this year’s trophy.
At just 24 years of age, she’s already smashed the record for the number of winners ridden by a British woman in a year – one that she actually already held. 2020 also saw her land her first Royal Ascot win, the Group 1 Duke of Edinburgh Stakes, followed by a notable success in the British Champions Sprint Stakes on Champions Day in October.
Doyle is fast becoming one of the most inspirational sportswomen around, especially in a year where most female sporting stars have had the misfortune to see their careers disrupted due to the global pandemic. Viewers might just be won over by the tenacity she brings to a sport where she’s always proved her gender is no barrier to success.
WHY WON’T SHE WIN? Sadly, Doyle remains a relative unknown outside horse racing circles, and that lack of instant name recognition could ultimately see her crowded out in a very competitive field.
A future Classic win would probably boost her chances given she still has plenty of time on her side to land this prize. After all, the legendary AP McCoy had to land his long-coveted Grand National before voters in this competition sat up and took notice.
STUART BROAD
🏆 LATEST SPOTY ODDS: 100/1 🏆
WHY WILL HE WIN? He’s a well-known face amongst most of the British public after an international career with England spanning over 15 years and has a CV that suggests he should have had at least one shot at winning this award some time ago.
Nostalgia could be his most powerful weapon if he’s afforded the opportunity to look back on the night at a rock-solid career that saw him surpass the milestone of 500 wickets in 2020.
WHY WON’T HE WIN? This nomination looks to be more a nod to his achievements ‘in the round’, rather than for any of his exploits in 2020 – and that’s reflected in his long-shot odds.
It’s also not an Ashes or Cricket World Cup year, usually any cricketer’s best shot at landing this prize. Broad probably isn’t helped by the fact England compatriot Ben Stokes won this award last year, given his 2020 exploits somewhat pale in comparison to Stokes’ awe-inspiring 2019.
Odds correct at time of writing but may be subject to change.
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