
By Ros Satar
BIRMINGHAM, UK – Andy Murray made history as he won a record third BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, having scooped the title in 2013 and 2015.
In an Olympic year with a bumper crop of nominees, inspiring performances were the order of the evening, and as the night wore on, the montages reminded us of some of the best achievements in sport.
From the good natured joshing between Kadeena Cox and Dame Sarah Storey, to Alistair Brownlee frankly describing the (perhaps unrepeatable) dialogue between him and his younger brother as he literally pushed him over the line at the end of the Traithlon World Series.
Few were left unmoved as outgoing Team GB Hockey captain paid tribute to the team who made history with Olympic Gold, albeit pipped to the end for the Team of the Year.
But at the business end of the evening, Andy Murray was crowned the winner for a record third time, and in quite convincing fashion
Where did your #SPOTY favourite come?
Full story ➡️ https://t.co/76ofUdUMYT pic.twitter.com/NwRSDH9xGG
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 18, 2016
In both his previous wins, Murray joked about the characteristic of his voice that has made him the butt of jokes, but this year the Brit surpassed himself with a joke about his wife Kim having voted for Skelton, who recovered from a broken neck to finally lift gold.
He said, in his acceptance speech:
“A huge thanks to my wife and my daughter – she won’t know what this means yet, but maybe in a few years she will.
“Actually, I’ve got a bone to pick with my wife because about an hour ago she told me she’d voted for Nick Skelton. Not smart from her with Christmas coming up.”
Murray accepted the award in Miami where he is currently training for the forthcoming season, and he will be starting his season at the exhibition tournament, the Mubadala World Tennis Championships.
Second Place – Alistair Brownlee, Triathlon
Third Place – Nick Skelton, Equestrian
Team of the Year – Leicester City
Coach of the Year – Claudio Ranieri, Leicester City
Overseas Sports Personality of the Year – Simone Biles, Gymnastics
Olympic champion in the team, all-around, vault and floor, and a bronze medallist in the beam, all at the age of just 19.
Lifetime Achievement Award Winner – Michael Phelps, Swimming
Most decorated Olympian of all time, – 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (23), Olympic gold medals in individual events (13), and Olympic medals in individual events (16).
Phelps broke fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz’s record of seven first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games, winning eight gold medals in Beijing 2008.
At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Phelps won four gold and two silver medals, and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won five gold medals and one silver.
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