Sport's Personality Of The Year 2009 - My Verdict

On Sunday, we get to decide on who the biggest British Sport’s Personality of 2009 is. So who should we vote for? Here is my opinion based on a well researched algorithm combining sporting achievement, personality and notoriety. Please feel free to comment.

I think there are 4 main contenders (Ennis, Strauss, Button and Idowu) with Ennis just edging it, though Giggs, Murray or Haye could all sneak in based on their high profile. I have added 4 more names to the list (Wiggins, Rooney, Taylor and Flintoff – who should have been included anyway due to receiving the same number of nominations as Daley).

The overseas award can only go to Usain Bolt, no question.
The team award, I think, should go to Brawn GP, unless you can think of anyone else.

Pos Athlete             Ach     Pers    Prof    Total
 1  Jessica Ennis       4.25    1.5     2.5     8.25
 2  Jenson Button       3.75    1.75    2.5     8
    Phillips Idowu      4       1.5     2.5     8
    Andrew Strauss      3.5     1.5     3       8
 5  Ryan Giggs          2.75    2       3       7.75
    Andy Murray         3.25    2       2.5     7.75
    Wayne Rooney        2.75    2       3       7.75
 8  Andrew Flintoff     2.5     2       3       7.5
 9  David Haye          4       1.25    2       7.25
10  Beth Tweddle        4       1.5     1.5     7
11  Mark Cavendish      3.5     1       1.5     6
    Tom Daley           4       1.5     0.5     6
13  Claire Taylor       4.75    0.5     0.5     5.75
    Bradley Wiggins     3       1.25    1.5     5.75

Achievement (out of 5) - What did they achieve in their sport this year.
5 – Domination
4 – Winning highest award
3 – Winning at a lower level / Performing well at highest level
2 – Overall Notable performances
1 – One or two outstanding performances not consistent
+ 0.5 for unique achievement (e.g. Rebecca Romero)
+ 0.5 for outstanding contribution to a poor team (e.g. Kevin Pietersen).

Personality (out of 2) - How well known they are to the British public.
2 – Known by everyone
1 – Known by sports fans only
0 – Known by fans of specific sport

Profile of Sport (out of 3) - How highly is the sport regarded in the country.
3 – Football, Cricket
2.5 – Rugby Union, Tennis, Formula 1
2 – Boxing, Golf, Snooker
1.5 – Horse Racing, Road Cycling, Gymnastics
0.5 – Women’s Cricket, Diving

Jessica Ennis (Athletics)
After returning from injury which kept her out of the Olympics, Ennis produced a personal best by winning at the combined events challenge in Italy in May and won two events at the UK national championships in July. After the first 4 events of the World Championships, Ennis had scored the third highest 1st day points total ever and won 4 of the 7 events to take the gold medal.

Jenson Button (Formula 1)
In 2008, Button managed just 3 world championship points. His team, Honda pulled out of Formula One in December and Jenson was left without a drive for the new season. Brawn GP took over from Honda less than a month before the opening race of the season however Button won 6 of the first 7 races effectively tying up the world championships by June.

Phillips Idowu (Athletics)
Phillips finally fulfilled his potential by becoming the triple jump world champion with a personal best jump of 7.73 metres in the third round. This distance was the furthest anyone jumped in the whole of 2009.

Andrew Strauss (Cricket)
Took over as England captain from Kevin Pietersen in January and made three centuries against the West Indies. He then led England to victory over Australia in the Ashes, being named England’s man of the series, making the highest innings score (161 at Lords) and scoring more runs than anyone else in the series.
He also led England to their first one day series victory in South Africa.

Ryan Giggs (Football)
Giggs helped Manchester United to the league title and his 11th title and was voted the PFA Player of the Year despite having only started in 12 games. He remains the only player to score a goal in every season of the Premier League since it began in 1992 and this year he has reached the milestones of 800 games and 150 goals for Manchester United and became the 17th player to score 100 Premier League goals.

Andy Murray (Tennis)
In 2009, Murray won 6 ATP titles, including the AEGON Championships at Queen’s Club, 2 Masters titles and briefly reached world number 2 while Nadal was injured. His best performance in a grand slam was at Wimbledon where he lost to an inspired Andy Roddick in the semi-final.

Wayne Rooney (Football)
Rooney is England’s most important player and his 9 goals in 10 qualifying games helped his country reach the 2010 World Cup finals as group winners. He also helped Manchester United win the 2008-9 Premier League title (his third) scoring 20 goals and reaching 100 Manchester United goals, the 20th player to achieve this feat.

Andrew Flintoff (Cricket)
Flintoff became the highest rated IPL player ever but had to come home early due to a knee injury. In June Flintoff announced he would retire from test cricket after the Ashes. His best performance came in the 2nd test at Lords, taking 5 vital wickets on the last day to secure victory. In the deciding test, he superbly ran out Ricky Ponting to help secure a 2-1 series win.

David Haye (Boxing)
In May 2008, Haye relinquished his cruiserweight world titles and moved up a division to heavyweight. He was scheduled to fight the WBC champion, Vitali Klitschko in June but pulled out with a back injury. Instead he lined up a fight with 7 foot tall, WBA champion, Nikolay Valuev, who he defeated in Germany on a close points decision to become Britain’s fifth heavyweight champion ever.

Beth Tweddle (Gymnastics)
In qualifying at the World Championships in London, Beth fell off the uneven bars and landed on the floor, where she won the gold medal, helped in part by the following gymnast bouncing on her head during a tumble. In 2009, she also won two gold medals at the European championships and the Glasgow Grand Prix on the uneven bars and the floor.

Mark Cavendish (Cycling)
Mark is regarded as the world’s fast sprinter in road cycling, and proved that by winning 6 stages of this years Tour de France and finishing second in the points classification (green jersey). This, added to his 4 stage wins in 2008 put him top of the British stage wins list.

Tom Daley (Diving)
In February, Tom retained his British 10 metre title by over 100 points but he was unable to defend his synchronised title as his partner, Blake Aldridge, was injured the week before in a nightclub brawl. Daley continued to finish high up in world series events and in the world championships took the gold medal despite scoring much lower than his best.

Claire Taylor (Cricket)
In March, Taylor helped England win their third world cup and was leading run scorer and named player of the tournament. In June, at the Women’s World Twenty/20 Competition was again named player of the tournament, scoring a vital 76 to defeat Australia in the semi final. Her vital contribution saw England retain the Ashes and she is the first Woman to be listed in Wisden’s Cricketers of the Year.

Bradley Wiggins (Cycling)
Wiggins finished fourth in his first Tour de France, equalling the Robert Millar’s 1984 position as the best place British rider. he also won the British National Time Trial Championships and the Herald Sun Tour held in Melbourne.