Sports Personality of the Year LIVE: Latest updates and results as Beth Mead wins award ahead of Ben Stokes
Beth Mead was voted ahead of Ben Stokes, Eve Muirhead, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Eve Muirhead, Jessica Gadirova and Jake Wightman to become the first female footballer to win the award
England footballer Beth Mead has been voted 2022’s Sports Personality of the Year after playing a starring role in the Lionesses’ stunning European Championships victory this summer.
Mead becomes the first female footballer to win the award following England’s first major international title in 66 years, with the Lionesses defeating Germany in a thrilling final in front of 86,000 at Wembley Stadium.
Mead scored six goals at the Euros, picking up the Golden Boot and Player of the Tournament awards, and was the overwhelming favourite to win the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year prize.
Ben Stokes finished second with Eve Muirhead in third.
“This is for women’s sport and women’s sport heading in the right direction,” Mead said. “Let’s keep pushing and let’s keep doing the right thing.”
England were named Team of the Year while manager Sarina Wiegman won Coach of the Year, as the Lionesses completed a clean sweep.
Follow updates from the award ceremony with our live blog below:
Sports Personality of the Year 2022
Attention now turns to the World Athletics Championships, which this year took place in Eugene, Oregon. Luara Muir, Keely Hodkinson and Dina Asher-Smith won medals, but there was one standout gold for Great Britain...
Sports Personality of the Year 2022: Young Sports Personality of the Year
Jessica Gadirova is in the final three of the Young Sports Personality of the Year shortlist, along with 18-year-old diver Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and 14-year-old skateborder Sky Brown, who won last year.
And the award goes to Jessica Gadirova!
“Thank you to my coaches and British Gymnastics, I couldn’t have done it without you guys!”
Sports Personality of the Year 2022: Jessica Gadirova
“It started with the Commonwealth Games, to come away with team gold was incredible. At the Europeans we achieved silver and qualified for the World Championships in Liverpool. It was an incredible experience and to achieve second in the team final was amazing. To top it off, gold in the floor. I knew it was the last competition so I gave it my all.”
On her sister Jennifer, who is in the crowd: “She means the world to me, we’ve grown up side by side. I couldn’t imagine not being there with her. I love you Jen!”
Jessica Gadirova is also up for Young Sports Personality of the Year, which will be announced next.
Sports Personality of the Year 2022: Jessica Gadirova
Jessica Gadirova
The 18-year-old gymnast has had a stellar 2022, capped by becoming only the fifth British athlete to win an individual world title in artistic gymnastics. Gadirova achieved that with her floor routine in Liverpool in November, having previously claimed team silver and all-around bronze. A team bronze medallist at the Olympics last summer, Gadirova also retained her European floor title.
“To perform, you’ve got to trust. Believe in the delicate balance between body and gravity. Every up and down will leave you ultimately in the same place. Trust in your mind, in your memory, that on the biggest stage you will find your best performance. Sometimes, though, it all gets stripped away. No hiding place. No distractions. When you’re all alone with just the stage, trust the process, then let it flow. And believe that however high you fly, you’re still aiming upwards. There’s even more to come, and that you can trust.”
Sports Personality of the Year 2022
Eddie Butler, the legendary rugby commentator and former international known as the “voice of Wales”, died earlier this year at the age of 65. He was a regular contributor to the BBC’s coverage of the Sports Personality of the Year awards, as well as the Six Nations. There is a moment to reflect upon his work.
Eddie Butler ‘lyricism and humanity’ praised as tributes paid following death
Broadcast colleagues Jonathan Davies and Brian Moore were among those to pay tribute
Sports Personality of the Year 2022
Where to begin with football in 2022? Liverpool were Carabao Cup and FA Cup champions, as they won the first two legs of a possible quadruple. Manchester City were Conti Cup champions, before Chelsea got revenge in the Women’s FA Cup final. Chelsea also retained their Women’s Super League crown for a third year in a row.
In Scotland, Celtic won the Scottish Premiership and Rangers won the Scottish Cup, but the Ibrox side were denied on penalties by Frankfurt in Sevilla.
Manchester City edged out Liverpool in a dramatic Premier League title race, on the final day of the season. Then, in the final match of the season, Real Madrid defeated Liverpool to win the Champions League.
There will be plenty more football to come later in the show.
Sports Personality of the Year 2022: Ronnie O’Sullivan
O’Sullivan chats with Gary Lineker live from Dubai, where he is on holiday with his family.
“I have an appetite to love the game, I love competing and when you love what to do you get out of bed in the morning to do it. When I won the World Championship in 2012, 2013 it felt comfortable and like I could go again. I cherish it more now I’m older. The top players rise to the occasion, especially at the Crucible where there is more pressure.”
On an eighth title: “I don’t know. When I turned pro I was happy with one. I was to get eight, fantastic, but it’s tough these days. I don’t know if age is catching up with me. I’ll have a good idea a week before the Crucible if I can to do. If I’m in form, I’ll have a chance.”
Sports Personality of the Year 2022: Ronnie O’Sullivan
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Snooker’s biggest star claimed his seventh World Championship title in 2022 with an 18-13 win over Judd Trump, equalling Stephen Hendry’s record and becoming the oldest winner of the crown at 46. O’Sullivan is ranked world number one and also won the Champion of Champions and Hong Kong Masters titles this year. He has never won the SPOTY title.
“Ronnie O’Sullivan - Rocket Man. Snooker from another dimension. Brilliance on cue. He grew up immersed in the game. But his life has always had other angles. Fast, out of this world, the rocket. We saw the lightening certainty but not the clouds within. But he had a table to cling to. Our eyes told us he was the greatest but history demands proof. In snooker, it weighs excellence not just in silver but in Sheffield steel. For 30 years we’ve been drawn to Ronnie. Now, could he reach the mark made by Stephen Hendry? The king at his table, the greatest at his mightiest. The Rocket.”
Sports Personality of the Year 2022
Rachael Blackmore and Sam Waley-Cohen, the winning jockeys of the Gold Cup and Grand National respectively, are at the ceremony following their victories in the biggest races in horse racing. Blackmore made more history this year as the first female jockey to win the Gold Cup.
Sports Personality of the Year 2022: Eve Muirhead
“I’ve been at my fair share of Olympics, eventually getting to the top of the podium came with a lot of hard work. It was a dream come true,” Muirhead tells Clare Balding. “Pyeongchang was my hardest Olympics. Coming fourth by less than an inch. After qualifying for Beijing we did it the hard way but I learned a ton, about how to get myself back from failure. Before I knew it we were celebrating a gold medal.
“I’ve retired from curling now but I miss the sport.”
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