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SPlus, for Salford residents, there will be no chance to see the nation’s best athletes stagger in heels and tails through the windswept lobby of an out-of-town conference venue. Another victim of the Covid-19 crisis, this year’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year will be a socially distant affair.
While Spoty’s tour of Britain in recent years took place at the P&J Live complex in Aberdeen and at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, on Sunday he will return to the BBC Sport home in Media City. There will be few guests from the greats and good of British and world sport. There will be no gala crowd engaged with lucky locals. However, in a small compensation measure, there will at least be Rick Astley.
A live performance of the ’80s pop legend and internet auction is one of many adjustments the BBC has made to a format that is now in its 67th edition.
Lewis Hamilton is the favorite to win the top prize, out of a list of six that includes jockey Hollie Doyle and world billiard champion Ronnie O’Sullivan. Organizers have already announced that the global sports star of the year is Russian UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, who retired this year after an undefeated run. However, there are new awards to watch out for this unprecedented year.
Marcus Rashford will receive a special award from the panel for his work off the field in 2020. Raising awareness of child food poverty before helping to create a national network to supply food to hungry children, as well as forcing the government to split into two U – In turn, the Manchester United striker clearly demonstrated the power of sports stars to bring about change in society.
Another hero of the pandemic, Captain Tom Moore, has named a new second prize after him. The Captain Tom: Anonymous Young Hero Award will have the war veteran and billionaire fundraiser honor a member of a younger generation for their contribution to community sport. The winner of the Anonymous Adult Hero Award has yet to be announced, as are the usual awards for Team of the Year and Coach of the Year.
Fast guide
List of sports personalities of the year
The six contenders for the main prize on Sunday night
Stuart broad He passed 500 proving grounds for his career, having caused quite a stir with his reaction by being eliminated for the first test. He also enjoyed a rebirth with the bat and at 34 years old he noted that he has much more to him.
Hollie doyle She had her first winner at Royal Ascot with a 33-1 Scarlet Dragon shot and at Windsor in August she became the first woman to mount five winners in a match. He won twice on Champions Day.
Tyson’s Fury He took the WBC heavyweight title from Deontay Wilder in February with a seventh-round knockout, an excellent performance against an opponent of the caliber of the American. In line to fight Anthony Joshua next year.
Lewis Hamilton He took his seventh world title, equaling Michael Schumacher’s record, with his fourth consecutive title. He now has 95 wins, four more than the German’s previous record, and has extended his pole record to 98.
Jordan henderson He captained Liverpool to their first league title since 1990, by a margin of 18 points, at which point the Reds were English, European and world champions. He helped lead the game’s response to the pandemic.
Ronnie O’Sullivan His sixth world title on the Crucible made him the oldest winner, at 40, since Ray Reardon, 45, won in 1978.
As expected, there will be logistical changes to deal with for a production that will go live. Alex Scott will join the presentation team of Clare Balding, Gary Lineker and Gabby Logan, but they will all perform in a practically empty room at Dock 10 Studios.
There will be live music with Astley and the BBC’s Sound of 2020, Celeste, performing. Celeste will sing Nat King Cole’s smile during the portion of the ceremony that remembers sports figures who have died in the last 12 months.
Astley will perform Every One of Us, a song originally recorded to benefit Children in Need and a de facto anthem for the Forgotten Hero Awards.
In other places, there will be many athletes expressing their wish to be there that night. While some nominees will be in attendance, the majority will appear from their homes and, instead of a studio audience, a 700-screen wall will present a virtual crowd of sports stars and former winners.
The need for Covid-19 precautions will save the BBC one of the annual talking points about whether the awards managed to attract enough big names to the event. Instead, there will be controversy over a big name that doesn’t want to be on the short list.
Tyson Fury, the world heavyweight boxing champion, has twice called for his name to be removed from the short list, claiming that he does not need further validation from the BBC as he has won the affection of the British public.
The award, however, is voted on by the public, live during the show, and there are those who believe that Fury’s stunt is more about complaints made against his nomination in previous years due to a history of misogynistic and homophobic comments. .
The other nominees are Stuart Broad, after a magnificent summer of testing, and Jordan Henderson, the captain of a Liverpool that won the Premier League by 18 points.
After claiming his seventh Formula One world title this year, putting him right up there with Michael Schumacher as the most successful driver in the sport, Hamilton is as low as 1-2 with some bookmakers.
This year, Hamilton increased his political activism, becoming an unwavering defender of the Black Lives Matter movement. Whether such activism will be controversial with the British public or make Hamilton the people’s champion will be clear at 10pm Sunday night.
