Sports Personality of the Year

A focus on sporting achievement

June 2025

Greg Rusedski 1997

Admin

Tennis player Greg Rusedski was born in Montreal, Canada on September 6, 1973 but, having won his first Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles title, the Hall of Fame Open in Newport, Rhode Island in 1993, as a Canadian national, he opted for British citizenship, courtesy of his English-born mother, in 1995. His decision was not universally popular on either side of the Atlantic, but in 1997 Rusedski received a fillip from the British public when he was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in his adopted country.

At the 1997 Wimbledon Championships, Rusedski, who began the year with a world ranking of 48 , progressed to the quarter-finals of the men’s singles, where he lost in four sets to eventual runner-up Cédric Pioline. At the 1997 US Open, which featured the newly-built Arthur Ashe Stadium at the

United States Tennis Association (USTA) Tennis Center in Queens, New York as the main court, Rusedski reached the final of the men’s singles without dropping a set. He eventually lost, again in four sets, to Patrick Rafter.

In so doing, Rusedski became the first British man to reach the singles final at the US Open since Fred Perry won, for the third time, in 1936 and the first to reach any Grand Slam singles final since John Lloyd, who lost in five sets to Vytautas ‘Vitas’ Gerulaitis at the Australian Open in December 1977. Sadly, his notable achievements were overshadowed by the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales from injuries sustained in a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris, France on August 31, 1997, midway through the US Open.

Nevertheless, while Rusedski never won a Grand Slam singles title, the most memorable year of his career saw him a world ranking of four and, in the days before Sir Andy Murray, his efforts were duly recognised by BBC viewers. Having accepted his trophy from Sir Peter O’Sullevan, who introduced him as “Rudeski”, Rusedski said, “I am absolutely delighted to receive this prestigious award; it’s in such excellent company. I’d like to thank all the people who voted for me. It’s a difficult name to spell, as you know…”

Jonathan Edwards 1995

Admin

Born in London on May 18, 1966, triple jumper Jonathan Edwards was, by his own admission, “a very late developer”. However, having failed to qualify for two consecutive Summer Olympics, in Seoul in 1988 and Barcelona in 1992, in 1995 he enjoyed a true annus mirabilis.

In June, at the European Cup, Edwards jumped an illegally wind-assisted 18.43 metres at what is now the Stadium Lille-Metropole, making him the first man in history to jump beyond 60 feet, or 18.29 metres, and just the third, after the American duo Willie Banks and Mike Conley, to jump beyond 18 metres under any circumstances. He later reflected on his achievement, saying, “Afterwards, I was very disappointed. I think my 18.43m was worth between 18.20m and 18.30m legal.”

His disappointment did not last long, though. In July, Edwards jumped 17.74 metres in Gateshead to break the British record and 17.98 metres in Salamanca to break the 10-year-old world record previously held by the aforementioned Willie Banks.

In August, at the World Athletics Championships in Gothenberg, Edwards broke the world record again, with a first-round jump of 18.16 metres, making him the first man in history to legitimately jump beyond 18 metres. Clearly ‘in the groove’, in the second round he did so again, sailing out to an eye-watering 18.29 metres, thereby setting a new world record, which, at the time of writing, still stands. Not altogether surprisingly, Edwards became an instant celebrity.

Edwards ended 1995 by being voted World Athlete of the Year, European Athlete of the Year and BBC Sports Personality of the Year, in the latter case beating boxer Frank Bruno into second place and rally driver Colin McRae into third in the public vote. Having accepting the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award from Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher, Edwards began, “I’m not quite sure I can speak,” but went on to thank his coaches, his wife, Alison, and his mother and father. He said, “The thing that’s stuck out is how many people have sacrified without the sort of rewards that I’ve received this year.”

David Beckham 2001

Admin

At the time of writing, Sir David Beckham, 50, has recently been awarded a knighthood for services to sport and charity in King Charles’ Birthday Honours List. That decision has proved divisive but, the best part of a quarter of a century ago, in his playing days, his election as BBC Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY) 2001 was far less equivocal.

Notwithstanding winning the Premiership for the third season running with his club, Manchester United, in 2000/01, Beckham, then 26, had scored a spectacular, injury-time free-kick for England against Greece at Old Trafford in early October, thereby earning a 2-2 draw and securing the Three Lions’ place in the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan the following summer. That effort alone, well-timed as it was, just two months before the SPOTY ceremony, was enough to sway the majority of the three-quarters of a million, or more, telephone voters on the night.

The result was hardly a surprise, but the England captain beat round-the-world yachtswoman Ellen MacArthur into second place and England teammate Michael Owen – who won the Ballon D’Or – into third. Tennis player Tim Henman, boxer Lennox Lewis and triple jumper Jonathan Edwards completed the shortlist of six nominees for the coveted prize.

Fittingly, Beckham was presented with the trophy by his England manager Sven Goran Eriksson. Beckham was quick to thank Eriksson and Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, adding, “Most of all I would like to thank my wife [Victoria], who has been behind me all the time and obviously my son [Brooklyn], who watches me, every game.” Earlier in the two-hour television special, Eriksson himself had collected the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award, after guiding the England team to the aforementioned World Cup.

At the World Cup, England progressed to the knockout stages, with Beckham scoring a penalty in a 1-0 win over Argentina at the Sapporo Dome in the second of three group matches. England eventually lost 2-1 to Brazil in the quarter-finals, but Beckham went on to make 115 appearances for the national team, placing him third on the all-time list behind Peter Shilton, with 125, and Wayne Rooney, with 120.

Damon Hill 1996 & 1994

Admin

Damon Hill is, of course, the son of Graham Hill, who won the Formula One World Drivers’ Championship in 1962 and 1968. Indeed, Hill Jr. himself was Formula One World Champion in 1996 and has the distinction of being one of just a handful of sportspeople to be voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year more than once. In fact, at the time of his second award – which coincided with his one and only drivers’ championship in 1996 – he was just the third, after boxer Sir Henry Cooper (1967, 1970) and fellow racing driver Nigel Mansell (1986, 1992).

On that second occasion, Hill beat rower Steve Redgrave and jockey Lanfranco ‘Frankie’ Dettori into second and third place, respectively, in the public voter. Having accepted the trophy from the 1995 winner, triple jumper Jonathan Edwards, he said, “This really has made my year for me. I feel enormously proud to win this award, to stand here amongst the cream of our country’s sportsmen. It is a humbling experience.”

Hill competed in Formula One between 1992 and 1999, but the 1996 season was his most successful. He won eight of the 16 Grand Prix contested during the season and eventually topped the drivers’ table 19 points ahead of his nearest rival, Williams-Renault teammate Jacques Villeneuve.

Hill had previously finished runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers’ Championship in 1994 and 1995, behind Michael Schumacher on both occasions and, controversially, by just a single point in 1994. Schumacher was widely blamed, including by Hill himself, for causing a collision between the two during the final race of the season, the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide, forcing the retirement of both drivers and, effectively, handing the title to the German.

At the end of a tragic Formula One season, which saw the deaths of rookie Roland Ratzenberger and Williams-Renault teammate Ayrton Senna during the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, being voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year 1994 may have provided scant consolation for Hill. That he was, though, beating athletes Sally Gunnell and Colin Jackson in the public vote.