O’Sullivan Nominated For BBC Sports Personality
Ronnie O’Sullivan is on the shortlist of nominees for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award for the first time in his career.
The shortlist is announced today and O’Sullivan has been named as one of six nominees, alongside Lewis Hamilton, Stuart Broad, Jordan Henderson, Hollie Doyle and Tyson Fury.
O’Sullivan’s brilliance on the table and charisma have made him a fans’ favourite across the globe
O’Sullivan won the World Championship for the sixth time earlier this year, beating Kyren Wilson 18-8 in the Crucible final. That reinforced his status as snooker’s greatest ever player, having won a record 37 ranking titles and 20 Triple Crown events. He also holds the records for the most century breaks, with 1,070, and most 147s with 15.
O’Sullivan won his first ranking title at the age of just 17 at the 1993 UK Championship, and 27 years later he is still a regular winner of tournaments and ranked second in the world. At 44, he is the oldest World Champion since Ray Reardon in 1978.
BBC Sports Personality of the Year will be televised on BBC One on the evening of Sunday December 20th and the winner will be named on the night after a public vote.
It’s the first time a snooker player has been in the mix for the main award since Stephen Hendry in 1990. The only snooker player to win it was Steve Davis in 1988.
In 2019, O’Sullivan became the first player to make 1,000 century breaks.
WST Chairman Barry Hearn said: “This is fully deserved for snooker’s greatest ever player and one of the most talented British sportsmen of all time. His nomination is well overdue so I am delighted that he is finally on the shortlist. Ronnie’s popularity among fans has helped us to grow snooker around the world. I hope he wins the award and that anyone who loves sport will vote for him based on his incredible achievements over the years.”
BBC’s Director of Sport Barbara Slater said of this year’s awards: “As we know, it has been a strange and unprecedented year, but we have still been fortunate enough to see plenty of sporting highlights which we look forward to honouring on the night.
“The 67th BBC Sports Personality of the Year award promises to be another exciting and tough choice for audiences.”
Votes can be cast by phone or online on the evening of Sunday 20 December and the number to call for each contender will be revealed during the programme. For further information and full Terms and Conditions, go to bbc.co.uk/sportspersonality.
The prestigious award has been running since 1954. Here are the former winners:
1954 Sir Chris Chataway
1955 Gordon Pirie
1956 Jim Laker
1957 Dai Rees
1958 Ian Black
1959 John Surtees
1960 David Broome
1961 Sir Stirling Moss
1962 Anita Lonsbrough
1963 Dorothy Hyman
1964 Mary Rand
1965 Tommy Simpson
1966 Bobby Moore
1967 Sir Henry Cooper
1968 David Hemery
1969 Ann Jones
1970 Sir Henry Cooper
1971 HRH Princess Anne
1972 Dame Mary Peters
1973 Sir Jackie Stewart
1974 Brendan Foster
1975 David Steele
1976 John Curry
1977 Virginia Wade
1978 Steve Ovett
1979 Lord Sebastian Coe
1980 Robin Cousins
1981 Sir Ian Botham
1982 Daley Thompson
1983 Steve Cram
1984 Torvill and Dean
1985 Barry McGuigan
1986 Nigel Mansell
1987 Fatima Whitbread
1988 Steve Davis
1989 Sir Nick Faldo
1990 Paul Gascoigne
1991 Liz McColgan
1992 Nigel Mansell
1993 Linford Christie
1994 Damon Hill
1995 Jonathan Edwards
1996 Damon Hill
1997 Greg Rusedski
1998 Michael Owen
1999 Lennox Lewis
2000 Sir Steve Redgrave
2001 David Beckham
2002 Paula Radcliffe
2003 Jonny Wilkinson
2004 Dame Kelly Holmes
2005 Andrew Flintoff
2006 Zara Phillips
2007 Joe Calzaghe
2008 Sir Chris Hoy
2009 Ryan Giggs
2010 AP McCoy
2011 Mark Cavendish
2012 Sir Bradley Wiggins
2013 Andy Murray
2014 Lewis Hamilton
2015 Andy Murray
2016 Andy Murray
2017 Mo Farah
2018 Geraint Thomas
2019 Ben Stokes