Sports Personality of the Year

A focus on sporting achievement

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Virginia Wade 1977

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In 1977, the year in which Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Silver Jubilee, Virginia Wade was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY), beating cricketer Geoffrey Boycott and motorcycle racer Barry Sheene into second and third place, respectively, in a poll of readers of the ‘Radio Times’. Accepting the trophy from Prince Michael of Kent, she said, “I think this is the trophy that every sportsman or woman in this country longs to win win and I can’t be happier to have won it. I think it’s wonderful that Prince Michael is here, because his family have all been such popular followers of our game, tennis.”

Aside from the Silver Jubilee, 1977 was also a historic year insofar as it marked the centenary of the Wimbledon Championships, so Wade chose a good time to win her first, and only, ladies’ singles title at the All England Tennis Club after 16 attempts. Indeed, at the time of writing, she remains the last British woman to win a singles title, not only at Wimbledon, but at any Grand Slam tournament.

Wade, herself, has already won the US Open in 1968, beating Billie Jean King in straight sets in the final, and the Australian Open in 1972, beating Evonne Goolagong in similar fashion. However, she was a beaten semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 1974, a beaten quarter-finalist in 1975, and a beaten semi-finalist again in 1976, so the most famous victory of her career could also be viewed as completion of unfinished business.

Wade did not drop a set until the semi-final, in which she nonetheless beat top seed, and defending champion, Chris Evert 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 to set up a final with seventh seed Betty Stove. Evert later remarked, “I could see it in her eyes that she really wanted to win.” In the final, Stove won the first set, 6-4, but at 3-3 in the second Wade began her fightback and, playing some of the best tennis of her career, gradually took control of the match. She eventually prevailed 4–6, 6–3, 6–1 and said later, “It was like a fairy-tale, with everyone cheering for the Queen and cheering for me.”

Sebastian Coe 1979

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In 1979, athlete Sebasian Coe was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year, ahead of cricketer Ian Botham and footballer Kevin Keegan. In his acceptance speech, he said, “I’d just like to thank everybody who voted and bought their copy of the ‘Radio Times’,” and also referred to “great help from Mr. [George] Gandy [Director of Athletics ] at Loughborough [University].

Coe had won a bronze medal in the 800 metres at 1978 World Athletics Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia, one place behind compatriot Steve Ovett, with whom he would dominate middle-distance races for much of the next decade. However, the summer of 1979 belonged to Coe; on July 5, in Oslo, Norway, he ran 1:42.33 for 800 metres, beating the previous world record set by Alberto Juantorena, on July 17, also in Oslo, he ran 3:48.95 for a mile, beating the previous world record set by John Walker and finally, on August 15, in Zürich, Switzerland, he ran 3:32.03 for 1,500 metres, beating the previous world record set by Filbert Bayi.

Coe went on to win four Olympic medals, including gold medals in the 1,500 metres at the Summer Olympics in Moscow in 1980, where Ovett finished third, and in Los Angeles, where Ovett did not finish and subsequently collapsed with chest pains. All told, he set set 12 world records, nine outdoors and three indoors, the most notable of which was 1:41.73 for 800 metres, sent in Florence, Italy in 1981, which stood until equalled by Kenyan-born Wilson Kipketer in Stockholm, Sweden in 1997. Kipketer went on to break the 800m world record, twice, later that year.

Off the track, Coe was was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1991. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament for Falmouth and Camborne between 1992 and 1997 and, in 2000, was granted a life peerage, becoming Lord Coe, of Ranmore in the county of Surrey. He was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 2006 and appointed Companion of Honour (CH) in 2012. In recent years, he has been best known as President of World Athletics and Chairman of the British Olympic Association.

Torvill and Dean 1984

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In 1984, for the first time in the 30-year history of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, the coveted prize went not to one person, but to two people. Those two people were, of course, figure skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, who beat athlete Sebastian Coe and snooker player Steve Davis in the public vote. Accepting the trophy from (yet to be knighted) Elton John, Dean said, graciously, “I would like to say thank you to everybody that’s helped us over the years to achieve the success that we have.”

Rather romantically, on Valentine’s Day, 1984, at the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, Torvill and Dean became the highest-scoring figure skaters of all time, courtesy of a innovative free-dance programme performed to an abridged version of ‘Boléro’ by French composer Maurice Ravel. Abridged it may have been, but still nearly 20 seconds too long for the four minutes and 10 seconds allowed for musical accompaniment. Thus, cleverly, the routine started with the skaters kneeling, rather than standing, such that the time did not start until the first of their skates touched the ice.

Watched by 8,500 spectators at the Zetra Olympic Hall (now the Juan Antonio Samaranch Olympic Hall) in Sarajevo and a televison audience of over 24 million in Britain alone, the pair executed the routine almost to perfection. As flowers rained down onto the ice, they received 12 perfect 6.0 scores, including nine out of nine for artistic impression, and six 5.9 scores. A slightly shell-shocked Dean said afterwards, “Tonight we reached the pinnacle. I don’t remember the performance at all. It just happened.”

Remarkably, at the 1984 World Figure Skating Championships in Ottawa, Canada the following March, Torvill and Dean fared better still, recording 13 6.0 scores and five 5.9 scores. They turned professional shortly afterwards, but did, briefly, return to competition, winning the bronze medal in the ice dance at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. According to Austrian referee Hans Katchura, their routine contained an ‘illegal’ overhead lift, which was penalised. Philosophical on defeat, Dean said of the routine, “It was within the rules and entertaining at the same time.”

Steve Davis 1988

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In 1998, snooker player rounded off a memorable year by beating swimmer Adrian Moorhouse and golfer Sandy Lyle to the BBC Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY) Award in a poll of ‘Radio Times’ readers. In so doing, he became the first and, at the time of writing, only snooker player to lift the coveted silver-plated trophy. The main presentation was due to be made by Sir Arthur Gold, chairman of the British Olympic Association, but Davis was unable to attend the awards ceremony at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre.

Following an introduction by host Des Lynam, he was, instead, presented with a replica of the SPOTY trophy by his opponent, Terry Griffths (the beaten finalist in the 1988 World Snooker Championship), during a match in the Norwich Union Grand Prix at the Beach Plaza Hotel in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Slightly non-plussed at the prospect of making an acceptance speech, Davis said, “I’m absolutely delighted to have won this, but very disappointed to not be there as well.”

In November 1987, Davis won the UK Championship at the Guild Hall in Preston, beating Jimmy White 16-14 in the final. In January 1998, he won the Masters at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, whitewashing Mike Hallett in the final and, in May 1988, won the final ranking event of the 1987/88 season, the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, beating the aforementioned Terry Griffths 18-11 in the final. Davis was winning the fifth of his six world championships – he would successfully defend the title in 1989 to equal the modern-era record set by Ray Reardon in 1978 – but victory in Sheffileld also made him the first player to win all three ‘Triple Crown’ events in the same season.

Davis finally announced his retirement in April 2016, at the age of 58, having lost to Fergal O’Brien in qualifying for the World Snooker Championship. Reflecting on his decision, he said, “”The Fergal O’Brien match was my last and I told Barry Hearn [his manager] it was time to call it a day. My father passed away recently and it was natural time to stop playing.” Davis finished his career with 28 ranking titles, which, at the time, placed him co-second on the all-time list, alongside Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins.