Why Bradley Wiggins should win BBC Sports Personality of the Year

 

 

WHEN news broke in the early hours of Tuesday morning that Andy Murray had won the US Open, his victory effectively capped off one amazing summer of British sport.

England's lurching 1-1 World Cup draw against a superior Ukraine side barely 16 hours later brought us down to earth; another sobering reminder that all is not well in the nation's favourite sport which gorges itself upon greed and the worst kind of role models.

No wonder so many TV viewers switched over to the mouth-watering "Great British Bake Off" on BBC2, instead of enduring the pedestrian football played by our team of millionaires.

Moving on, though. Remember a couple of years ago when the Spanish seemed to win everything in world sport? Well now, it seems, it's our turn!

Forget the recession, ignore the rain/drought or just how rubbish the TV schedules are without this rich diet of physical excellence, hasn't this been a dreamy and memorable period for British sport?

All the talk now is that organisers of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards are looking at revising the format to squeeze in the most formidable collection of sporting excellence ever assembled. There will be world champions aplenty for the traditional December bun fight, this time taking place at London's ExCel Centre

Following the amazing achievements of the Olympians, Paralympians, our cyclists in the Tour de France and now the sulking Scotsman at the US Open, it is believed the BBC will be freshening up the format for the awards to accommodate the huge number of outstanding performances.

Some have suggested separate awards for men and women since there have only been three female winners in the past decade. Another thought was to give the Paralympics special status. But these ideas have apparently been dismissed.

Officially, the BBC is keeping its cards close to its chest, so it will be interesting to see what happens.

As an aside, I was at Broadcasting House in London. Built in 1932, Broadcasting House now houses a state-of-the-art East Wing, renamed the John Peel Wing, which has been described as a jewel of Art Deco design.

This historic landmark at Portland Place is magnificent and hugely impressive, as you would expect from the state broadcaster. It is a great place to work and was buzzing. Coincidentally, we had our meeting held in the wryly named John Cleese room.

Anyway, I digress. All this talk of who is going to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award is a far cry from the time three years ago when Ryan Giggs scooped the honours ahead of Jenson Button and Jessica Ennis.

Never has there been such as rich seam of talent to mine from - anyone of 20 or 30 this year's crop of world and Olympic champions could win this most significant of awards. So who do you think should win?

Here's my top 10 list, with the current William Hills odd alongside:

1. Bradley Wiggins: the man with the coolest sideburns in sport. Winning the Tour de France on its own should have been reason enough for the Paul Weller lookalike to scoop the award, but Olympic gold in the time trial has surely secured the vote. (10/11)

2. Mo Farah: Olympic gold in the 5,000m and 10,000m and the man who put the smile back on the face of British athletics, plus the best post-race celebration since Alan Pascoe twice tripped over during a victory lap at the 1974 Commonwealth Games. A humble guy with a huge smile on his face. (3/1)

3. Andy Murray: Fantastic achievement to win the US Open and Olympic gold after suffering the torment of defeat at the hands of King Rog in the final at Wimbledon. But these awards are about personality, so the Murray-meister could win the Tour de France on a unicycle and he still wouldn't win this award. (5/2)

4. David Weir: His racing shirt may have bust, but this guy is the greatest wheelchair racer of all time who can turn it on from a range of distances from the marathon downwards.  He has won a total of six gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 Paralympic Games, and won the London Marathon on six occasions. An immense athlete and a fine ambassador for disabled sport. (25/1)

5. Jonnie Peacock: Huge respect for a guy who can run under 11 seconds for 100m on blades. Jonnie, who lost his right leg below the knee after contracting meningococcal septicaemia at the age of five, is the new pin-up personality for British disabled sport. The way he composed himself in the final of the 100m was awesome in the face of huge expectation when the crowd chanted his name. (100/1)

6. Jessica Ennis: When you talk about pressure, Jessica delivered in spades to win heptathlon gold at the Olympics. She stayed focused throughout all her events. When you look at her multi-discipline training schedule, which allows just one rest day, you can only admire the discipline and dedication of this outstanding athlete. (10/1)

7. Sarah Storey: Born without a left forearm, Sarah won four cycling gold medals during the Paralympics providing that cycling at this level is an elite sport.  She is an amazing sportswoman; a a British swimmer, track and road cyclist, multiple gold medal winner at the Paralympic Games, and twice British national track champion. (100/1)

8. Alistair Brownlee: His performance in winning the Olympic triathlon was simply awesome. When you recognised the sub-30 minute 10k which Alistair ran at the end of his 43km cycle ride and 1,500m swim, you could only appreciate how power of the performance of a man who dominates world triathlon. (200/1)

9. Ben Ainslie: I first saw him compete in the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and have interviewed the Lymington-based sailor a number of times. A great guy who became the greatest sailor of all time by clinching gold at the London Olympics in the Finn class. Prone to the occasional outburst of temper when media boats sail to close, but a classy guy. (150/1)

10. Rory McIlroy: We've yet to see the best of Rory one suspects. Won this year's US PGA Championship by eight shots and recently produced a final-round 67 to secure the BMW Championship in Indiana; his third US Tour victory in four outings. With golf set to appear in the Rio Olympic Games, who would rule out an gold medal in Brazil for the Northern Ireland golfer? (100/1)