MOMENT OF GLORY FOR FURY BUT KANE LOOKS TO BE BEEB’S PRIZE GUY
THE loudest member of the field will probably command much of the attention tonight.
Tyson Fury’s probable presence on the shortlist for the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year will be controversial given the way he has divided opinion over his personal views and boxing ability. Yet the heavyweight will garner votes, for sure.
The names on the list will not be made known until 7pm, at the start of the BBC1 show, to prevent a repeat of the motorcycling fraternity’s concerted campaign to vote Jonathan Rea into second place last year.
Sometimes, sporting excellence wins this bauble, though personality invariably seems to carry greater weight.
That’s why Fury, whose 12th-round recovery from the canvas to tie with Deontay Wilder earlier this month is on the event’s new ‘Best Sporting-Moment’ shortlist.
Fury finds himself marginally behind Lewis Hamilton in the betting.
Hamilton’s fifth F1 title this year has elevated him into the conversation about the world’s best racing driver of all time, yet his modest SPOTY track record reflects the way he has struggled to find the level of national affection you might expect.
Geraint Thomas provided some badly needed personality to Team Sky this year, and the Tour de France winner’s vote will tell us more about public perceptions and suspicions of cycling.
Other contenders must surely include Dina Asher-Smith, who became the first British athlete to win the 100metres, 200m and 4x100m at the same European Championships and also took two Commonwealth medals.
Lizzy Yarnold became Britain’s most successful Olympian when she defended her skeleton title at February’s Pyeongchang Games and retired in October.
And cricketer Alastair Cook could conceivably be a contender in his England retirement year.
But despite the strength of this year’s likely field, it is very hard to bet against a winner emerging from England’s World Cup campaign in Russia.
History tells us this, since SPOTY is more often a reflection of big sporting events than a vote for the best sporting achievement.
You have to go back to 1996 to find a non-Olympian winner in an Olympic year. And of the mere five footballers to have won, only Ryan Giggs (2009) and David Beckham did so outside of an international tournament year. There was Bobby Moore in 1966 and not a single footballer again until Paul Gascoigne, for his performance at the 1990 World Cup. Michael Owen won in 1998, a World Cup year, and Beckham three years later for the goal that gave England a shot at the 2002.
It’s why Harry Kane, winner of the tournament’s Golden Boot, leads the SPOTY betting this time, with his hat-trick in England’s 6-1 defeat of Panama a high point in their journey to the semi-finals.