Who are the contenders for this year’s Sports Personality of the Year?
We take a look at the potential contenders for the annual Sports Personality of the Year award.
Tyson Fury – 15/8
After missing out on the SPOTY award last year to England’s Cricket World Cup hero Ben Stokes, with many thinking that the boxer should have won it after his inspiring comeback to the sport and controversial draw against Wilder in Los Angeles, Fury is the heavy favourite to scoop this year’s award.
The Gypsy King put on a monumental performance to beat the Bronze Bomber when the pair had their rematch at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The 31-year-old’s victory, via technical knockout in the seventh round, saw him win the WBC and The Ring heavyweight titles. The pair are due to meet again in December, just before the award ceremony, and a second win for Fury could see him take home the award this time around!
Marcus Rashford – 3/1
Whilst Marcus Rashford, who is the second-favourite for the sports award, had an impressive season on the pitch, scoring 17 goals and seven assists in 31 Premier League appearances, as Manchester United finished third, and subsequently gained Champions League football, the 22-year-old has also made the headlines for much bigger reasons of the pitch!
Earlier in the year, the England international successfully campaigned for a government u-turn in regards to school pupils getting free meal vouchers during the summer period, whilst, more recently, the forward made another breakthrough, forming the ‘Child Food Poverty Task Force’, alongside Aldi, Asda, Co-op, Deliveroo, FareShare, Food Foundation, Iceland, Kellogg’s, Lidl, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Waitrose. Fair play, Marcus!
Ronnie O’Sullivan – 7/2
After winning his sixth World Championship title at the end of August, snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan saw his odds for the award slashed. The Rocket came back from the cusp of defeat in the semi-final to beat Mark Selby – who accused O’Sullivan of being disrespectful during their match. The 44-year-old went on to beat Kyren Wilson 18-8 in what was a straightforward final for O’Sullivan. The victory also moved him onto a record 37 ranking titles, one more than Stephen Hendry’s record (36).
O’Sullivan caused a stir during the tournament, telling the BBC: “If you look at the younger players coming through, they’re not that good really.
“Most of them would do well as half-decent amateurs, or not even amateurs they’re so bad a lot of them.
“A lot of them you see now, you think, cor, I’ve probably got to lose an arm and a leg to fall outside the top 50. So that’s why we’re hovering around – because of how poor it is down that end.”
Lewis Hamilton – 7/2
Lewis Hamilton is a massive 1/25 odds-on to win a record-equalling seventh Formula 1 Drivers World Championship this season. The Mercedes driver has won an impressive five of the seven races so far this season, putting him at the top of the standings with 157 points – almost 50 points clear of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who is in second. Should Hamilton win his fourth Drivers World Championship in a row, there would be three World Champions in contention for the 2020 SPOTY award!
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Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, who guided the Reds to their first Premier League title in 30 years, and England Cricket legend James Anderson are next in line. However, they are as big as 25/1 and 33/1, respectively.It’s getting close to that time of the year again, when we take a look back at the best sporting moments of the year and award the finest sportsman with the Sports Personality of the Year award.
Despite COVID-19 grinding sport, not just in England but around the world, to a halt, for several months, we have still witnessed some great sporting occasions throughout 2020, including Tyson Fury, who is the outright favourite in the Sports Personality of the Year odds, beating world heavyweight Deontay Wilder, and Liverpool lifting their first Premier League title in three decades.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the contenders for this year’s SPOTY award. Read on to find out more!
Image: “File:FWC 2018 – Round of 16 – COL v ENG – Photo 107.jpg” by Oleg Bkhambri (Voltmetro) is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0