Sports Personality Of The Year At 60

Gary Lineker looks back on the 60-year history of BBC Sports Personality of the Year. What started in 1954 as a low-key affair with a surprise winner when Chris Chataway beat four-minute-mile record-setter Roger Bannister, has grown into one of the most anticipated nights in the sport and television calendars, with the 2012 event the biggest ever. HRH Princess Anne, David Beckham, Lord Sebastian Coe, Sir Bradley Wiggins, Paula Radcliffe, Zara Phillips and Sir Steve Regrave are just some of the winners who recall fond memories of the night they won the main award. Former presenter Des Lynam recounts his nerves on the night, as well as the laughs he shared with Frank Bruno and others, while Lineker and Sue Barker remind us of the moments that brought them, and us, to tears – emotional presentations to legends of sport like Muhammad Ali and Sir Bobby Robson. There are also contributions from Young Sports Personality of the Year winners Wayne Rooney and Andy Murray. In the 60 years Sports Personality has been on the air, sport and society has evolved, but the award remains as relevant and important now as it ever has done. Lineker explains, this is because of the public – the people who are so frequently captivated by sport, and who vote in their thousands every year to select the award winner. As such, the roll of honour on the Sports Personality of the Year trophy reads like a who’s who of UK sport, and the programme itself has become a broadcasting institution.