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Will any UKCF members be watching this evening's show, cigar in hand perhaps? I won't be (not keen on the showbiz element of it), but was keen to see what people's thoughts were on this year's awards...
Personally, I will be most disappointed if, as predicted, Jessica Ennis wins the title. I really do not know what she has done to deserve it... She won her event (we had 29 gold medals at the Olympics, so not such an outstanding achievement). She won well, but she was expected to. Also, and possibly the main reason that I believe she should not win the award, is that she was entered into two events, and she pulled out of her second event with no reasonable justification. Her fans who had hoped to see her weren't able to do so, and a young British athlete may well have missed out on a place at their home Olympics because Ennis took up a place which she did not use.
From (solely) the Olympics, I'd have to say Mo Farah would be my top option - he did an incredibly difficult and hard double, and had quite a journey to achieve it. A real example of dedication and hard-work.
However, the two who are well ahead in my opinion are Andy Murray and Ben Ainslie.
Andy Murray possibly edges it for me, just. He was the first British male finalist at Wimbledon for 74 years and first British male Grand Slam winner for over 76 years - and he managed that in an era of all time greats. In winning the US Open, he also became the only British male to win a Slam in the Open Era. Add that to a successful Olympics, picking up both a gold and a silver medal (the latter a somewhat unexpected success) and you have an incredibly successful and landmark year.
Otherwise, Ben Ainslie has to be in with a shout. He is an incredible competitor - possibly the most single-minded sportsman we've seen for a very long time. This has to be the only reason that he won gold at the Olympics from a position that looked almost impossible to come back from. Now he's the most successful Olympic sailor of all time. He's also a big part of the British sailing scene, a real figurehead, and is largely responsible for Britain finally getting its act together and getting together a team for the 35th America's Cup (was rather embarrassing, I thought, that we hadn't managed to get one together after Team Origin fell apart).
Any other thoughts... Go on, I know at least one person wants to take Jessica's side...
Personally, I will be most disappointed if, as predicted, Jessica Ennis wins the title. I really do not know what she has done to deserve it... She won her event (we had 29 gold medals at the Olympics, so not such an outstanding achievement). She won well, but she was expected to. Also, and possibly the main reason that I believe she should not win the award, is that she was entered into two events, and she pulled out of her second event with no reasonable justification. Her fans who had hoped to see her weren't able to do so, and a young British athlete may well have missed out on a place at their home Olympics because Ennis took up a place which she did not use.
From (solely) the Olympics, I'd have to say Mo Farah would be my top option - he did an incredibly difficult and hard double, and had quite a journey to achieve it. A real example of dedication and hard-work.
However, the two who are well ahead in my opinion are Andy Murray and Ben Ainslie.
Andy Murray possibly edges it for me, just. He was the first British male finalist at Wimbledon for 74 years and first British male Grand Slam winner for over 76 years - and he managed that in an era of all time greats. In winning the US Open, he also became the only British male to win a Slam in the Open Era. Add that to a successful Olympics, picking up both a gold and a silver medal (the latter a somewhat unexpected success) and you have an incredibly successful and landmark year.
Otherwise, Ben Ainslie has to be in with a shout. He is an incredible competitor - possibly the most single-minded sportsman we've seen for a very long time. This has to be the only reason that he won gold at the Olympics from a position that looked almost impossible to come back from. Now he's the most successful Olympic sailor of all time. He's also a big part of the British sailing scene, a real figurehead, and is largely responsible for Britain finally getting its act together and getting together a team for the 35th America's Cup (was rather embarrassing, I thought, that we hadn't managed to get one together after Team Origin fell apart).
Any other thoughts... Go on, I know at least one person wants to take Jessica's side...
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