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