BBC Sports Personality of The Year 2017

14th December 2017 / Julian
Novelty Betting & Other Events Betting

As the year draws to a close and with the next swiftly approaching, it’s time to look back and take stock of the sporting events and moments that shaped the year.

Coming as it does in December, the BBC Sports Personality of The Year is the perfect chance to take a retrospective glance at the highs and lows, the successes and failures of British sportsmen and women. It’s also a chance to have a punt on the eventual winner and bag ourselves some cash.

This BBC back-slapping event does tend to favour individuals rather than team players and has been accused of being elitist in the past. Whether true or not the occasion does tend to favour certain types of sports while neglecting others. Athletics have provided more award winners than any other field, and in 1971 the award went to Princess Anne for eventing. More recently in 2006 Anne’s daughter Zara Phillips won the award for the same equestrian sport. As to how many times the Queen voted, one may only speculate.

At the other end of the spectrum Phil Taylor managed second place behind the jockey Tony McCoy in 2010, and is the only darts player to feature in the top three places since its inception in 1954. The bookies’ favourite for 2017 is Anthony Joshua with William Hill pricing him at a very short 1/6.

2017 over and out

2017 was a year of fourths as Lewis Hamilton won his fourth F1 World title and Chris Froome successfully clinched his fourth Tour de France. Mo Farah was not far behind the two as he secured his third consecutive gold for the 10,000 metres at the World Athletics Championship in London. In football, Chelsea won the Premiership title, but Tottenham’s Harry Kane was a real stand out performer as he became the Premiership’s top striker for the second year in a row. 2017 also saw the England cricket team and the British & Irish Lions travel to sunnier climes as they landed in Australia and New Zealand respectively, although with differing levels of success.

Sir Andy Murray, the only person to have won the award three times, spent most of the year recovering from a hip injury which will open up the field considerably. Meanwhile, in snooker, Ronnie O’Sullivan had a fantastic year. He rocket-propelled himself back to number two in the world thanks to winning the UK Championship (as we correctly predicted), but failed to even make the shortlist.

The Contenders

Anthony Joshua: The favourite to walk away with the camera-shaped trophy this year is Anthony Joshua at 1/6. The heavyweight boxer from Watford had a great year and in front of 90,000 fans at Wembley Stadium he defeated the great Wladimir Klitschko by TKO to become the unified heavyweight champion of the world. Joshua went on to successfully defend his titles with a victory against Carlos Takam which ended in a 10th round stoppage. Boxers have won the award five times with Henry Cooper having two to his name.

Lewis Hamilton: Lewis Hamilton had another fantastic year with Mercedes winning his fourth world championship trophy with room to spare. In the end, a ninth place finish at the Mexico Grand Prix was enough to secure the title for Hamilton which the man himself described as a ‘horrible way to do it’. For Hamilton winning isn’t simply enough, he needs to do it in style. An ever popular figure and fantastic competitor, Hamilton is best placed to snatch the award from Joshua. William Hill have him at 7/1.

Chris Froome: Chris Froome took away the Tour de France title this year making him one of the most successful cyclists in the history of the sport. One more title would see him equal the records of Jacques Anquetil (FRA), Eddy Merckx (BEL), Bernard Hinault (FRA) and Miguel Indurain (ESP). Froome also became only the third ever cyclist to win both the Tour de France and La Vuelta in the same year, leaving some to question whether he was completely human or a machine in human form. Winning sports personality would cap off a great year. But could his recent adverse drugs test result count against him?  9/1.

Mo Farah: The ever popular long distance runner secured a third world title with a gutsy performance in the 10,000 metres. The only minor disappointment came when Muktar Edris pipped him to the 5,000 metres gold and had the audacity to perform the mobot celebration in front of him. Whispers around doping seemed to follow the runner due mainly to associations with manager Alberto Salazar. Farah was cleared but mud can stick leaving a guy named Mo at 20/1.

The rest: Tottenham and England star Harry Kane is an outside bet at 40/1 along with superbike champion Jonathan Rea. In truth Harry Kane is a much likelier long shot. Superbikes have neither the popularity or glamour of F1 racing. Lewis Hamilton is a household name. No disrespect to a great champion, but Jonathan Rea is not. From here you have contenders such as the swimmer Adam Peaty and tennis player Johanna Konta. Both have had good years in their respective sports but nothing spectacular. For a £1 bet William Hill would return £101 if Peaty won and £251 for Konta, you’d get better value by buying a couple of pints of milk.

Prediction: Lewis Hamilton should have had a great chance of winning this year, but with all the paper talk in Joshua’s favour it could become a self-fulfilling prophecy. For that reason we predict that Joshua will come away with the award this year, and Hamilton will have to settle for second.