Sports Personality of the Year: when is BBC SPOTY, can I get tickets, past winners and 2021 nominees

Gabby Logan, Gary Lineker, Clare Balding and Alex Scott will all present the 68th SPOTY awards in front of a studio audience. The event will be held at Salford’s MediaCity and will be broadcast on BBC 1.

BBC Spoty will celebrate a year that has constantly been filled with sporting action, most notably the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics 2020 this summer.

The programme will also look to note Emma Raducanu’s historic US Open triumph, England’s journey to the Euros 2020 final as well as Chelsea Football Club winning this year’s Champions League.

The 2021 SPOTY nominees have now been announced and the voting is now open for the BBC’s World Sport Star of the Year.

Who are the nominees for BBC World Sport Star of the Year?

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez

Alvarez became the first undisputed super-middleweight champion of all time after he beat Caleb Plant in November.

Rachael Blackmore

Blackmore is an Irish jockey who became the first female rider to win at the Aintree Grand National. She also became the first woman to be leading jockey at the Cheltenham Festival in March and she won six races.

Tom Brady

The American football legend has extended his Super Bowl record as he helped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Kansas City Chiefs in February.

He became the NFL’s leading passer in October when the Bucs won against his former side the New England Patriots.

Novak Djokovic

The Serbian tennis player sealed victories at the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon and is now level with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer with 20 major titles.

He just missed winning all four majors in one year as he lost in straight sets to Daniil Medvedev at the US Open.

Elaine Thompson-Herah

The 29-year-old Athlete became the first woman to complete the Olympic sprint ‘double double’. She became the second-fastest ever women in the 100m and 200m and successfully defended her Rio titles in Tokyo despite an Achilles tendon injury.

Max Verstappen

Verstappen has won his first ever F1 Championship title after a thrilling 2021 season, culminating in a controversial and dramatic final lap. He is also the first Dutchman to pick up the award.

Who are the 2021 nominees?

• Tyson Fury is one of the main contenders the 2021 SPOTY award. His recent victory over Deontay Wilder in their final bout of the historic heavyweight trilogy will no doubt go down in history as one of the most iconic fights of this generation of boxers. Fury has maintained his 32 professional undefeated fight record and has proclaimed himself “The greatest heavyweight of my era”.

• Emma Raducanu : Rising to fame during the summer’s Wimbledon Championships, she fought her way through the qualifying stages to make it to the last 16 of the tournament.  Following this tremendous achievement, she then went on to fly through the qualifying stages of the US open and become the first ever qualifier to win the tournament as well as the first British women to win the tournament since Virginia Wade in 1977.

• Raheem Sterling: The Manchester City and England footballer has also been selected for this year’s award. Since 2015, he has made 209 appearances for his club and scored 82 goals. He has also scored 18 goals in his 72 matches for his country. On 11 December 2021, Sterling scored his 100th Premier League goal. The striker was also a crucial matchmaker in England’s Euros 2020 campaign . He scored England’s only goal in their first match against Croatia, as well as there only goal in a 1-0 win over the Czech Republic which secured England finished top of their group. The 27-year-old then went on to score the opening goal in England’s 2-0 last 16 win over Germany.

• Sarah Storey is another 2021 contender for the SPOTY award. Beginning her career as a swimmer, the Paralympian won two gold medals, three silvers and a bronze in Barcelona in 1992. She has since gone on to win a total of 28 Paralympic medals in her career, 17 of which are gold. At the 2020 Paralympics, Storey became the first athlete to win the gold medal for Great Britain when she defended her title in the women’s individual pursuit C5 event. During the qualifying heat event at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, she also completely shattered her won world record by four seconds in the individual pursuit C5 category.

• Tom Daley: Daley finally became an Olympic Champion at his fourth Games as he and diving partner Matty Lee took gold in the synchronised 10m platform. The 27-year-old also went on to win another bronze in the individual event. Daley has been a well-known British Olympian for 13 years, when he came seventh in 2008 and won his first medal in 2012. The father of one has been an active member of the LGTBQ+ community and has been married to his husband, Dustin Lance Black since 2017.

• Adam Peaty is another likely receiver of a 2021 SPOTY award. The Swimmer shone at the Tokyo Olympics 2021, adding to his already impressive medal collection.  Peaty is one of only four British swimmers (David Wilkie, Rebecca Adlington and James Guy) to have won gold medals at all four international events (Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth Games) and is the only swimmer to hold all four major gold medals at the same time. He is a six-time European swimmer of the year and was the first male British swimmer in 24 years to win an Olympic gold medal in 100 metre breaststroke - a feat he achieved in 2016 and retained in 2020.

Who are the previous winners of BBC Sports Personality of the Year?

Previous winners of the award have originated from all areas of the Sporting world. Here is a list of the previous winners from the last 10 years:

• 2020: Lewis Hamilton, Formula 1
• 2019: Ben Stokes, Cricket
• 2018: Geraint Thomas, Cycling
• 2017: Mo Farah, Athletics
• 2016: Andy Murray, Tennis
• 2014 : Andy Murray, Tennis
• 2014: Lewis Hamilton, Formula 1
• 2013: Andy Murray, Tennis
• 2012: Bradley Wiggins, Cycling
• 2011: Mark Cavendish, Cycling
• 2010: Tony McCoy, Horse Racing

When is the BBC Sports Personality of the year?

The awards show will take place on 19 December 2021 and the Salford MediaCity.

How to buy tickets for Sports Personality of the year

Tickets for the event are not currently available but keep up to date with the information on the Salford MediaCity website or BBC Sport

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