The 2018 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award is crowned on Sunday evening with the stars of sport this year descending on Birmingham for the illustrious ceremony with many looking to follow in the footsteps of some sporting greats to win this crown.
In a year of some wonderful sporting achievements on both a singles and team level there is much to celebrate at the ceremony not just the winner of the main award. It should be a decent night to look back on an excellent sporting year.
Recent Winners
2017 – Mo Farah
2016 – Andy Murray
2015 – Andy Murray
2014 – Lewis Hamilton
2013 – Andy Murray
2012 – Bradley Wiggins
2011 – Mark Cavendish
2010 – Tony McCoy
2009 – Ryan Giggs
2008 – Chris Hoy
Change in Format
This year there has been a change to the format. The BBC have clearly had enough of the social media drives to get people from minority sports ahead of the star athletes and as such they are no longer announcing the shortlist until the ceremony begins, thus given less time for fans of a particular sport to influence the overall outcome.
The winner will still be determined by a public vote from a shortlist that is released on the evening but everything would point to the winner now being based a little more towards achievement rather than when Ryan Giggs and Tony McCoy won when they were well backed by a passionate fan base.
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Market Leaders
World Cup Golden Boot winner Harry Kane is the market leader for the title at 7/4. His six goals in Russia propelled England towards a semi-final spot and his goals for Tottenham have kept them in the limelight but whether football has enough of a draw in this sort of thing remains to be seen. My gut feel is that he is an uneasy favourite.
Cyclists have performed very well in this award over the last 10 years or so with Chris Hoy, Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins all winning the title and Chris Froome regularly high up in the nominations list. Geraint Thomas will be looking to emulate those. The Tour de France winner would certainly have grounds for winning based on his achievement while most of Wales will surely be pulling for him which could make his 5/2 price attractive. Whether cycling’s tarnished reputation goes against him remains to be seen.
Lewis Hamilton is regularly in and around the mix and the 2014 champion can be backed at 9/2 to regain the crown. The Formula One world champion appears to be popular enough with the public but whether enough people maintain an interest in the sport in comparison to others I’m not so convinced. He’s probably one for the top three but winning might be beyond him.
Tyson Fury almost created one of the biggest comebacks sport has seen when he came so close to dethroning Deontay Wilder in Los Angeles earlier this month. I think most judges believe he won the fight which is sure to see him on the shortlist but whether his past will go against him or Anthony Joshua takes some of the boxing vote would be obvious concerns and enough for me to swerve him at 12/1 even though he wouldn’t be the worst winner in the world.
History
In a non-Olympic year you tend to find that more mainstream sports get the spotlight although whether semi-final defeat for England in the World Cup is enough of an achievement to give football an advantage we’ll only truly know on the night. There might not have been an Olympics this year but major events like the World Cup as well as the Commonwealth Games and Winter Olympics should all not be forgotten when forming a bet.
Cyclists and athletes generally have a good record in this thing. You could say that tennis does too but it is only really Andy Murray who has put that sport on the map in regard to this event and he’s definitely not a runner this year. Don’t underestimate the personality side of things. It is becoming more of an issue on social media these days and it wouldn’t be the biggest shock in the world if the biggest persona wins over the best achievement.
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Betting
You can make a case for quite a few this year as highlighted by the fact that for once we do not have an odds on favourite heading into the evening. Of the main contenders as far as the is concerned I would probably swing for Geraint Thomas given that he is likely to receive plenty of Welsh support but even then you’re probably going to need in advance of 120-150k of votes which might not happen. I’ll go for one I think is a bit of value at the odds.
Dina Asher-Smith has had a wonderful 2018. She won a treble of gold medals at the European Championship and broke the national 100m and 200m records. The 23-year-old recovered from a broken foot to achieve those feats and it might be significant that it was all done on the BBC with thousands watching what was actually an enjoyable multi-sports event. Just as importantly, Asher-Smith is a bubbly, sparkling character who is loveable and genuine and handles herself really well despite her relative young age. She graced the Paris catwalks in her time out from training a couple of months ago so there is plenty to market her as a superstar and at 12/1 with the three each way places she looks worthy of support.
Tips
Back D.Asher-Smith to win Sports Personality of the Year (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 13.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-3)
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