Not the greatest of surprises that Freddie Flintoff won it. But I’m with Steve Cram on the merits of the runner-up, Ellen MacArthur, getting an award in this arena.
I was in Stanfords earlier today where they have a fine selection of books on adventurers. And that’s the category that MacArthur belongs in – adventure. Undoubtedly, sailing around the world in the fastest time is a great achievement, but is it sport? When a runner breaks a record, they’re either competing against competitors or the clock. But the environment is fixed and it’s sporting prowess that’s being measured. Would we have given Scott of the Antarctic a special (posthumous) prize if there’d been a BBC Sports Personality of the Year contest in 1912?
(And as an aside, why did the version of Jerusalem that the awards played out with sound like presenter Sue Barker was actually singing it herself?)