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Sports Personality of the Year 2012: Who will win?

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Sports Personality of the Year: The shortlist is in… but who do our writers think will win

PUBLISHED:

12:13 GMT, 27 November 2012

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UPDATED:

15:34 GMT, 27 November 2012

Names in the frame…

Nicola Adams (boxing)
Ben Ainslie (sailing)
Jessica Ennis (athletics)
Mo Farah (athletics)
Katherine Grainger (rowing)
Sir Chris Hoy (cycling)
Rory McIlroy (golf)
Andy Murray (tennis)
Ellie Simmonds (swimming)
Sarah Storey (cycling)
David Weir (athletics)
Bradley Wiggins (cycling)

Winner announced on Sunday, December 16

This year's BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award is as wide open as it has ever been following 12 months of remarkable achievement from our British athletes.

A stellar year for British sport has seen countless timeless moments created by our sporting stars at the London 2012 Olympic Games as well as some stunning winning performances from Brits in annual events such as the Tour de France and the US Open.

All 12 nominees are in with a genuine chance of winning and, as such, next month's vote promises to be the most hotly contested since the award's inauguration in 1954.

With the countdown to the showpiece on December 16 well under way, Sportsmail's panel of experts give their views on who they think should win the coveted award…

Last time out: Mark Cavendish (centre) collects the 2011 award ahead of second-placed Darren Clarke (left) and third-placed Mo Farah (right)

Last time out: Mark Cavendish (centre) collects the 2011 award ahead of second-placed Darren Clarke (left) and third-placed Mo Farah (right)

JONATHAN McEVOY

Bradley Wiggins

The greatest natural
extrovert in British Olympic sport since Daley Thompson. Both could
offend – Daley turned up in a tracksuit to accept his BBC award and then
swore live on air – but you can’t deny they are both personalities.

Even without his Olympic gold medal,
Wiggins would be the supreme candidate for becoming the first Briton to
win the Tour de France, and to do so clean.

Stellar year: Wiggins celebrates winning the Tour de France

Stellar year: Wiggins celebrates winning the Tour de France

Ben Ainslie, who has just retired
from Olympic competition, is the only Briton to have won four
consecutive individual gold medals and, therefore, my second choice.
Andy Murray is my third.

Charlotte Dujardin and Laura Trott,
two of only four women to claim two golds at one Games, are both unlucky
not to be on the list. So are triathlete Alistair Brownlee and sprint
cyclist Jason Kenny. Their omissions reinforce how 2012 was the year of
unsurpassed sporting achievement.

LAURA WILLIAMSON

David Weir

Until the Paralympic Games I would have voted for Bradley Wiggins or Mo Farah – but then the Weirwolf came along. I watched all of his races in London and still can’t comprehend the drive and mental toughness, never mind the physical toll, that took him to four gold medals.

His performances and personality –
particularly the change that occurred when he put on his red helmet,
ready to race – opened my eyes to the intense, challenging sport of
wheelchair racing. And I would hazard a guess I’m not the only one.

Weirwolf: David Weir won four gold medals at the Paralympic Games

Weirwolf: David Weir won four gold medals at the Paralympic Games

After the debacle of last year, when not a single woman made the shortlist, I was really pleased to see Nicola Adams made the final 12. Personality The woman defines the word. So too, though, do double gold medallist Laura Trott and Ian Poulter, the inspiration behind Europe’s Ryder Cup win. I was surprised Trott missed out, in particular.

MIKE DICKSON

Mo Farah

In this toughest ever ballot it has to be an individual who triumphed without the assistance of team-mates.

Therefore, as the most memorable face of
Britain’s greatest ever sports event, Mo Farah wins by a short head
from Andy Murray, whose historic triumphs give him second by a short
head from Bradley Wiggins.

Historic double: Farah won both the 5,000m and 10,000m at London 2012

Historic double: Farah won both the 5,000m and 10,000m at London 2012

Ben Ainslie, Katherine Grainger and Rory McIlroy would have made an outstanding triumvirate in any other year. Ian Poulter and Alastair Brownlee are ridiculously unlucky not to have made the shortlist.

CHARLES SALE

Bradley Wiggins

Wiggins would be a worthy
winner even in this stellar year for Sports Personality. His Tour de
France success was even more of an achievement for a Briton than Andy
Murray’s first Grand Slam title at the US Open, which would have been
the landslide choice in almost every other year, as would Mo Farah’s
5,000m and 10,000m Olympic double.

The most glaring omission is golfer
Ian Poulter after his unbeaten heroics at Medinah brought that most
unlikely of Ryder Cup triumphs for Europe. And Laura Trott’s two cycling
gold medals should have been rewarded with a place in the final 12,
especially in this girl power year.

Unlucky: Laura Trott and Ian Poulter both missed out on nominations

Unlucky: Laura Trott and Ian Poulter both missed out on nominations

Unlucky: Laura Trott and Ian Poulter both missed out on nominations

PAUL NEWMAN

Bradley Wiggins

It’s the toughest decision ever faced in a Sports Personality of the Year competition but for me Bradley Wiggins just edges out Andy Murray as the No 1 choice.

What these two have on the other top quality runners in the field is that they both won Olympic Gold AND another major competition in their sport. Murray’s triumph over Roger Federer in the Olympics at Wimbledon followed by his first major title in New York makes him the runner-up for me but for Wiggins to win the Tour de France and then win Olympic Gold a few days afterwards, not to mention trying to help Mark Cavendish win his, makes him the winner.

After such a vintage year someone has to miss out but I think Ian Poulter is unlucky not to make the short-list after the Miracle of Medina.

Golden girl: Ennis

Golden girl: Ennis

Legend: Hoy

Legend: Hoy

Thumbs up: Grainger

Thumbs up: Grainger

CHRIS FOY

Andy Murray

The Scot should be recognised for his feat in ending the perennial wait for a British winner of a tennis Major title. While Bradley Wiggins was similarly ground-breaking in his Tour de France triumph, there was less of an all-consuming national obsession with that particular title.

Murray has had to carry the burden of the country’s desperation to anoint a successor to the legendary Fred Perry and he achieved the elusive target in the greatest era his sport has ever witnessed. Not only that, in the time of Federer and Nadal and Djokovic, he also rose to the challenge of claiming an Olympic gold in the iconic setting of Wimbledon’s Centre Court. For this double achievement, Murray deserves to shade the vote ahead of Wiggins and Month Farah.

Sealed with a kiss: Murray lifts the US Open title

Sealed with a kiss: Murray lifts the US Open title

What do you think

Tell us who you think should win and why by leaving a comment below…

One man who should have made the short-list is Ian Poulter. While Rory McIlroy made the cut for his individual feats as world No 1 and USPGA champion, it was Poulter who stood tall in the cauldron of an ‘away’ Ryder Cup, to spark a comeback success which gripped the nation.

Masters 2012: Augusta for the ages after second round

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Generation Game on! Mix of young and old makes it an Augusta for the ages

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UPDATED:

00:14 GMT, 7 April 2012

Four charismatic players spanning four different generations sent excitement levels soaring at Augusta National on Sunday and summed up the timeless appeal of the Masters.

Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson and Fred Couples are in their twenties, thirties, forties and fifties respectively.

Scroll down for the full leaderboard after the second round at the Augusta National

Standing tall: Fred Couples is the surprise name on the top of the leaderboard at Augusta

Standing tall: Fred Couples is the surprise name on the top of the leaderboard at Augusta

Trouble: Lee Westwood chips to the 18th where he had a torrid time

Trouble: Lee Westwood chips to the 18th where he had a torrid time

Spread out over these sacred acres
they played their parts as fluidly as any string quartet to take their
places on a leaderboard that positively demands you find a cosy armchair
to watch from on Saturday night. It should be quite a performance.

Leading the way are 52-year-old Couples and unsung American Jason Dufner, who lost a play-off for the US PGA Championship last August.

Away: Rory McIlroy knocks out of a bunker on the 17th

Away: Rory McIlroy knocks out of a bunker on the 17th

Then come Garcia and McIlroy a stroke
behind, alongside Lee Westwood, 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and
another popular American, Bubba Watson, with Masters specialist Phil
Mickelson only three back after a 68, alongside the dogged Scot Paul
Lawrie, who finished his round with three successive birdies.

Appetising enough for you In
time-honoured fashion it seems only right we allow age to come before
beauty and the remarkable 67 composed by Couples. Heaven knows what
happens to him when he finds himself turning into Magnolia Lane, but the
years just melt away.

Twenty years on from his victory here, he can’t win again — can he — but it will be enthralling watching him try.

Chance: Bubba Watson is in with a shot

Chance: Bubba Watson is in with a shot

‘Everyone knows this is my favourite
place in golf and it feels a little bizarre to be leading but I just
feel young again when I come here,’ said the oldest player to lead at
the half-way stage.

'It was a truly magical day.’ It was
that all right, and it was shocking too late on, as Tiger Woods
unravelled on the back nine to finish with a 75 that left him eight
adrift.

Oops: Tiger Woods did not have a good day

Oops: Tiger Woods did not have a good day

With Woods among the later starters,
the most popular spot on a chilly morning was not trampling along with
Couples or even joining Mickelson but marching with McIlroy.

All these years after Arnie’s Army
came Rory’s Regiment and rather appropriately for such a crowd-pleaser
he was dressed in an outer jacket of Tiger-red.

Ninety degrees on Monday, it was
barely 45 when he stepped on to the first tee yesterday. Outside the
ropes his father Gerry felt his driving had been a touch awry on the
first day and here again McIlroy’s long game early on was a little short
of the trademark smoothness to which we have become accustomed.

Rise: Jason Dufner is joint leader overnight

Rise: Jason Dufner is joint leader overnight

Thanks to his own work ethic and the
input of short game coach Dave Stockton, McIlroy has far more weapons
these days than a stupendous long game. Whatever happened to the kid who
couldn’t hole a putt in last year’s tournament

Here, from the second, he enjoyed a
wonderful run of six single putts in a row. Most were of decent length,
too. Three were for pars, three for birdies as the 22-year-old built on
the momentum established in the evening shadows the previous day when he
had finished birdie, birdie.

Hot form: Phil Mickelson strolls under the sun on a good day for him

Hot form: Phil Mickelson strolls under the sun on a good day for him

It had felt like a warning to everyone else at the time, and it became even more so as he continued his charge into contention.

‘It definitely gave me a positive outlook,’ he confirmed.

McIlroy reached the turn in 33 strokes. The inward half was more prosaic but, one year on from his Masters meltdown, the man who has finished in the top five in 12 of his last 13 events is right where he needs to be once more.

Like Westwood, Garcia carries the scars from major near misses into this weekend and you can only wish him well as he tries to get over the finishing line once more.

Let's go: Westwood hits a tee shot on the 14th

Let's go: Westwood hits a tee shot on the 14th

Totting up: Sergio Garcia marks his scorecard on the 18th

Totting up: Sergio Garcia marks his scorecard on the 18th

His putting woes have been
well-documented and you fear for the 31-year-old Spaniard on these slick
greens under the ultimate pressure. But this was not the day to worry,
not after a marvellous demonstration of ball-striking in a fine 68.

Then there was the indomitable Mickelson, who stood four over par after 10 holes on Thursday after losing a ball. Now he has fought back so well he will be the man the Europeans might fear most this weekend, with his awesome record of three wins and eight other top seven finishes here to sustain him.

Up there: Fred Couples (right) shakes hands with Ryo Ishikawa

Up there: Fred Couples (right) shakes hands with Ryo Ishikawa

As on the first day he came up with a
grandstand finish, holing a long bomb for a birdie at the last to the
obvious rapture of the patrons. ‘Given where I was after 10 holes
yesterday, it feels terrific to be so close to the lead,’ he said.

Lawrie’s round was meandering nowhere until an unlikely holed 55ft birdie putt at the 16th sparked an improbable finish that has brought him back into the mix. ‘I’m not going to get too ahead of myself, just try and enjoy it over the weekend and see what happens,’ said the 1999 Open champion.

Bridge view: Miguel Angel Jimenez hits a shot from the fairway on the 13th hole

Bridge view: Miguel Angel Jimenez hits a shot from the fairway on the 13th hole

Ian Poulter’s second successive 72
has left him five back — alongside Justin Rose and Padraig Harrington —
and featured one of the finest shots he has ever played. It came at the
par-five 13th and was Seve-good. After going through the back of this
green into the woodland, Poulter found himself taking his stance either
side of a small azalea bush, with the ball partly buried.

With his backswing restricted the fear was the flamboyant one wouldn’t advance the ball at all, or thin it across the green and back into Rae’s Creek.

Loft: Garcia goes for a chip to the 18th green

Loft: Garcia goes for a chip to the 18th green

The worries faded thanks to a dazzling moment of short game magic that saw the ball finish 4ft from the hole. Poulter responded to the roars emanating from the crowd, acknowledging them with a series of fist pumps before taking a deserved bow. When he knocked in the putt for a birdie four he was two under par.

A poor tee shot at the 16th undid the heroics, however, as his ball found the water for an ugly double bogey. It has left him with an outside tilt at the title.

Struggle: After a bad first round, the second did not get a lot better

Struggle: After a bad first round, the second did not get a lot better


Masters 2012: Second round leaderboard