For any sports star in this country, the BBC Sports Personality of the year award is the ultimate public approval of your year’s endeavours. Every year sees an endless list of sporting achievements undertaken by the 10 nominees and it is generally accepted that there is never a dull year when it comes to sport. 2012 however, will form a new category of its own in the sporting consciousness of the country, and probably remembered fondly for the next 100 years.

Every 4 years there is essentially a super-year for sport, incorporating the Olympics, Paralympics, Ryder Cup, a World Cup or Euros and Wimbledon. Added to that may be a thrilling F1 season, other memorable golf championships and other smaller events such as the Tour de France. 2012 was one such super-year, made even more special by the home Olympics and Paralympics.

So for the winner of this year’s public vote for Sports Personality of the year, the sense of public recognition will be greater than perhaps any other year, and rightly so the shortlist has been increased from 10 people to 12.

This year’s event is tipped to be one of the most hotly contested in recent time, with 11 of the 12 nominees Olympians or Paralympians. The two biggest betting markets for this event are the overall winner and the top 3 finish. Odds on these 2 markets has shifted during and after the events took place, and more so during the run up to when the final list of 12 was announced, so to help you decide who to back, here is a run-down on each nominee, their list of achievements for the year and the best available odds:

Bradley Wiggins
For many bookmakers he is the clear favourite for the title and with good reason. Wiggins has had a truly incredible year, in becoming the first British rider ever to win the Tour de France, a moment that catapulted road racing and general interest in cycling sports to the front of public interest. Wiggins then cemented his place in the public affection by winning Time Trial gold at the Olympics, making him Britain’s most decorated Olympian ever, alongside Chris Hoy. Wiggins’ popularity goes beyond his sporting achievement however, with his accessibility and ease when conducting interviews widely appreciated. Such is his popularity this year he is credited with bringing sideburns back into fashion and is widely tipped for a Knighthood.
Odds are short, 2/5 almost across the board in the winners market and 1/20 for a top 3 finish, but it is easy to see why!

Mo Farah
Not only did Mo Farah win the much coveted long distance double of the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, but he also created a mini revolution in the dance world with the Mo-Bot. ‘Super Saturday’ was already in full swing with Jess Ennis’ victory in the heptathlon, when an hour later Farah crossed the line in a commanding victory in the 10,000m, the event most predicted would cause him more problems. At the 2011 World Championships he had been overhauled down the finishing straight, but here he led from start to finish and never looked seriously in trouble, his 5,000m victory a week later appeared even more straightforward.
Farah’s victories produced 2 of the golden moments of the games, with an entire stadium on its feet cheering him down the finishing straight on both occasions. His celebrations with his family trackside also touched the hearts of millions. Farah is a quiet and reserved character, without a hint of vanity. This quality endears him the public and may well be crucial when votes are cast.
He is definitely one of the favourites for the title, with odds at 5/1 from a host of bookies including bet365, betfred and Ladbrokes. Certainly one for the top 3 market, with odds of 3/7 best available from betfair.

Jessica Ennis
Even before 2012, Jess Ennis was already installed as favourite to win the Heptathlon gold, even after winning silver in Daegu at the 2011 World Athletics Championships. That expectation, coupled together with the added pressure of being “the face of the games” must have been very difficult to deal with. However Ennis not only won, but won in style, charging across the line in 1^st place in the last heptathlon event, the 800m, when she only needed to finish 7^th, kick-starting the now historic “Super Saturday” in the Olympic stadium. Ennis’ whole public persona was very carefully managed in the lead up to the games, with a facebook account set up which allowed fans access to her training routine as she prepared for the games, a page that overnight generated 1 million ‘Likes’. She is another athlete who is also naturally cheery and accessible, and in the time since the Olympics she has been busy promoting her autobiography and attending various charity events. 
Decent odds can be found at betfair, bet365 and Coral, all in at 9/1, with Ladbrokes down at 8/1. Her continued public presence could be very important during the voting process. She may not win, but she will definitely make the top 3, odds of 4/6 with bet365, and will be top placing female athlete by miles.

Andy Murray
From tears in the Wimbledon final, to gold at the Olympics and finally that illusive Grand Slam title at the US Open, Andy Murray has had his most successful and memorable year to date. Despite losing to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final, Murray showed great humility and compassion in his thank you speech to centre court after the match, something that will be long remembered in the hearts of tennis fans. He was installed as one of the favourites for SPOTY off the back of that moment. Murray then finally experienced centre court delight and gained a small measure of revenge over Federer, by beating him the singles final at the Olympics to take gold, only 3 weeks after Wimbledon. He also took silver in the mixed doubles final with Laura Robson. He then capped off an incredible year with victory over Novak Djokovic in the US Open.
Again, decent odds on Murray can be found, with quite a range across different bookies. He is 11/1 at bet365 and 12/1 at betfred, but you can also find odds as ashort as 8/1 for betvictor, so it is best to shop around if you fancy backing Murray.
His public persona has taken a massive boost this year. The tears at Wimbledon and then going on to win the US Open would have won him the SPOTY title in most years other than 2012. He may well be another good bet for the top 3, 4/5 across the board, but perhaps a longer shot for the overall title.

Nicola Adams
At every modern Olympics since 1924 there is the inclusion of at least 1 new sport at every games. At London 2012, that sport was women’s boxing. The media and public attention would have been heightened now matter who won the first gold medal in this new discipline’s history. The fact that it turned out to be a British athlete, Nicola Adams, made it even more special. Adams’ gold medal has inspired a whole new interest in boxing, particularly women’s boxing, much in the same way that Bradley Wiggins did for cycling. This is probably why she made the shortlist, for what her gold medal did for the public perception of her sport.
Odds are generally quite long however, best price 150/1 with Skybet. She maybe an outside chance for the top 3, 50/1 again with Skybet, but definitely a long shot.

Katherine Grainger
Her story may not have been well known before the games, but as she lined up for the final of the double sculls, everyone in Britain wanted Katherine Grainger to come home with gold, after 3 successive Olympic games collecting a silver. Grainger represented the calmness in the face of adversity that many Brits enjoy in their sporting stars, and her story produced one of the memorable moments of the games, when she tearfully embraced her friend and mentor Steve Redgrave after finally winning the gold she had been trying to secure for the last 12 years.
Long odds again, 200/1 best price from Ladbrokes. Depending on the mood of the public on the night she may well sneak into the top 3, 66/1 with Betfred, just as Phil Taylor did back in 2010.

David Weir
Named by many as the best wheelchair athlete in the world, David Weir had already won the London marathon for a record 6^th time in 2012 before he competed in the Paralympic games. There he added another 4 Paralympic golds to go with the 2 he previously won in Beijing. Weir has received great acclaim from around the world, including Usain bolt who said he was “simply inspiring”.  Of the 3 Paralympic athletes in the shortlist, Weir is the clear favourite amongst them with odds at 33/1 from Ladbrokes. He is certainly held in high enough esteem to make the top 3, 5/1 with Skybet and Betfred, 4/1 with Paddypower.

Ellie Simmonds
The youngest member of the British Paralympic team had already caused a storm back in 2008, when she went to the Beijing Paralympics at the age of only 13, winning 2 gold medals. Along the way to 2 gold’s this time around in London, the swimmer set world record after world record in the qualifying rounds and eventually took another 5 seconds off her best in the final of the 400m freestyle final. Simmonds has been very well received by the British public after the Paralympics and could be another dark horse for the top 3, 19/2 best price from Betfair, 50/1 from Ladbrokes to win. If not, she will probably finish the evening as the second highest placed Paralympic athlete after Weir

Sarah Storey
The winner of Britain’s first Paralympic gold at the London games in the velodrome, Sarah Storey went on to capture 3 more titles. In doing so she equalled Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson’s record haul of 11 Paralympic golds, having won the won first of her Paralympic golds way back in 1992 at the Barcelona games. Remarkably though, her first 5 Paralympic gold medals did not come in the velodrome, but in the swimming pool. Storey started her career as a swimmer, before moving into cycling in time for the Beijing games. It is a very rare occurrence, especially in Paralympic disciplines, when an athlete migrates from one sport to another, and her place amongst the final 12 is certainly recognition of that incredible feat.
Long odds at 200/1 offered by Ladbrokes, 66/1 from Betfred to make the top 3.

Rory McIlroy
Another contender who would have certainly been a shoe-in for the top 3 in any other year but Olympic year, Rory McIlroy has had an incredible year. Ending as world number 1, after winning the US PGA title by a record 8 strokes, he then followed this up with winning a further 4 PGA tour events, finishing the year as leading money winner for both European and PGA tours. He did all this of course, before the Ryder Cup. On the crucial final day’s play, McIlroy was up against Kegan Bradley in the singles, a player who had won all of his games during the week, usually with incredible putting and short play. In a bizarre incident, mistaking what time zone he was in caused McIlroy to only arrive 10 minutes before his tee-off, allowing him time for 2 practice putts and a quick energy bar before he had to be on the 1^st tee. Incredibly, not only did McIlroy go on to win, but he did it convincingly. Such is his talent he was able to play in one of the biggest games of his life with no preparation whatsoever.
Decent odds to be found at 80/1 at Paddpower and Skybet. The remarkable year McIlroy has certainly won him a lot of plaudits, however he will probably not make the top 3, 14/1 from Paddypower, given the amount of Olympic competition, but I doubt it’ll play on his mind too much afterwards!

Chris Hoy
Now Britain’s most successful Olympian ever, with 6 gold medals, there was a certain amount of expectation around Chris Hoy’s victories in the Keirin and team sprint. Winner of Sports Personality in 2008 after his Beijing triumphs, Hoy can be expected to feature again, although perhaps not at the top. There may be a lot of respect for what Hoy has accomplished, but in pure voting terms, having already won the award, as well as a Knighthood, may well cause him to be overlooked by those wanting to direct the praise to previously unrecognised athletes, such as Wiggins or Ennis. Having said all that, sentiment and recognition of a stellar career has merited top 3 finishes as well as won the title for Ryan Giggs.
Decent odds available from Skybet at 100/1 (hardly a surprise given his connections!). Dont rule him out of a sneaky top 3 finish, 16/1 from Paddypower.

Ben Ainslie
The greatest sailor of all time clinched his 4^th consecutive gold medal in the Finn class. Perhaps not as fashionable Olympic discipline as others, Ainslie has quietly gone about his business since the Sydney games with little accolade. He may not be near the top of the votes list this time round, but he does have the distinction of providing in many opinions the greatest quote of the games. When Ainslie claimed 2 other sailors had teamed up against him, forcing him into a mistake which led to a penalty turn, He uttered his now famous quote, “They’ve made a big mistake, they’ve made me angry. You don’t want to make me angry”, which catapulted him to the front pages. The quote was made even more fitting when he stormed to gold 2 days later.
Long odds again at 150/1 from Skybet, 33/1 for a top 3 from Betfair, but you never know, especially if they replay the quote footage! 

Thompson’s Two Cents

The Unlucky Few
Being an Olympic year, there was always going to be athletes, gold medal winning athletes none the less, who missed out on the shortlist. Greg Rutherford is just one of the Olympic heroes who did not make the shortlist despite a monumental achievement in winning the long jump. Rutherford may not be the best jumper in history, or even the 10^th best, but he seized the opportunity when it was presented to him. He has also come across as a very humble man in interviews; he will no doubt be gutted to miss out on the final shortlist.

In many ways however, that issue of Olympic heroes missing out, has in itself has overshadowed one of the bigger travesties in the compilation of the final shortlist. One man has been very harshly overlooked, when he produced many of the standout moments in the year of Sport at the Ryder Cup. I am of course referring to 'Mr Ryder Cup', Ian Poulter.
Poulter has always been known for his immense passion during Ryder Cups, but this time out he took that passion to a whole new level. He secured maximum points from each of his 4 matches, and became the official cheerleader for the European team, sprinting his way round the course to encourage others when he was not playing. How the ‘panel of experts’ did not recognise this as true ‘sports personality’ I will never understand. His victory over Webb Simpson on the final days play was the catalyst for Europe overhauling America’s record points lead. Throughout the tournament he gave open and honest interviews and showed a real pride in his achievements. His partnership with Justin Rose was a particular highlight during the first 2 days play, when America looked to be running away with it.

Poulter will no doubt be gutted not to make the final 12, but will take some comfort in the fact that his achievements have been widely celebrated in the wider golfing world and also in the future when he is eventually named to captain the European team, everyone will have 100% confidence in him to bring the trophy home!

The ‘Panel of Experts’
Obviously the BBC has full control over who sit on the panel that made up this shortlist, but for me the makeup of this panel has skewed the makeup of the final shortlist. The BBC executives who sit on the panel are obviously always going to be there, the head of BBC sport, the head of TV sport and the executive editor of the SPOTY program, are there every year and I have no problem with that, what I did have a problem with was those who were invited to be on the panel for just this special year.
The BBC is obviously going to want to have most of the attention focussed on the Olympics and any other major sporting event it covered. In order to do this, choosing panel members with a specific allegiance to the BBC, and more importantly the Olympics, was a sure fire way of tipping the balance. Steve Redgrave, Denise Lewis and Tanni Grey-Thompson are 3 former winners of Sports Personality of the Year, and now also work full time for the BBC. All of these athletes are Olympians and have no association with any other sport, so when it came to asking them who they felt should be included in the shortlist, it wouldn’t be surprising if every single choice they made was a fellow Olympian.

I’m not in any way trying to take away anything from the achievements of all the Olympians who made the shortlist, but the list has clearly been produced with the Olympics in mind and a celebration of not only the achievements, but a final celebration of the efforts the BBC made in covering the events. It’s almost inevitable that in a home Olympic year the winner of SPOTY will be an Olympian, but it’s just a shame that people like Ian Poulter who also inspired a nation do not get included. Obviously many have and always will miss out on the shortlist, but I rate Poulter’s achievements for the year better than half the athletes who have made it. For me, the panel of experts should be a core group of BBC executives with the rest of the panel made up of the country’s leading sports writers and broadcasters from across the board, not just BBC platforms. These amounts of impartiality will probably never occur though, as after all, it is ‘BBC’ Sports Personality of the Year.

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