Skating star Christie makes SPOTY list but boxer Joshua is the favourite
L World champion is only Scot in vote
Scottish speed skater Elise Christie has been nominated for the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award.
The short-track skater became the first European woman to win the 1,000m, 1,500m and overall gold at the World Championships in Rotterdam in March. But at odds of 150-1, the Livingston 27-year-old – who is the only Scot to be nominated – is very much an outsider for the award, won a record three times by Andy Murray.
The bookies favourite, at 2/7 is world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua. The 28-year-old former Olympic gold medallist, currently ranked the world’s top heavyweight, is the odds-on favourite to win the award after his victory over Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley in April earned him the WBA and IBO belts to add to his existing IBF title. He successfully defended his IBF title against late replacement Carlos Takam in October in front of 80,000 people in Cardiff.
However, he faces competition from 2014 award winner Lewis Hamilton, who won a fourth Formula One drivers’ title last month, and Chris Froome, who won his fourth Tour de France in the summer.
Mo Farah, who won the world 10,000 metres title in London but narrowly missed out on the 5,000m double in his final track season, is also on the list along with Spurs striker Harry Kane. He was the Premier League’s top scorer for the second season in a row.
British women’s tennis No 1 Johanna Konta is also among the nominees having reached her best singles world ranking of four in the summer after the biggest win of her career at the Miami Open, where she beat Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki in the semi-final and final, and then reached the last four at Wimbledon.
The winner will be decided by public vote, with the live show taking place in Liverpool on 17 December.