I'm not saying that wouldn't play a part but I think it would be very small, I think regionalism particularly with the top 2 will play a huge part. I would love to know what percentage of Scots voted Murray, and what percentage of Yorkshire voted for Brownlee. Mo is a Londoner, and let's face it there isn't much community feeling in a city like that unlike the regions the top two are in.

The marathon?

It's several loops of Central London between the Tower of London and the Houses of Paraliament (including a few zig-zags through the City), with the start/finish next to Tower Bridge.

In any case, Mo will stick to the track in London 2017.

You keep repeating this line about no-one else winning two golds in Rio, but it is false, Hannah Cockcroft won two, and one more gold, as did Libby Clegg, and yet they were not even on the shortlist, so it does show that there are some incredibly talented athletes out there.

Some people might think ad you suggest, but I severely doubt that is the main reason as to why he did not place higher, it was just purely down to the unbelievably high level of talent that was on the shortlist

If we were talking about a year where his achievements stood out like a beacon, and then he didn't win, then you might have a point, but the facts are that so many people had a hugely successful 2016, that he was just unlucky in that respect.

Winning The Masters only gets you 16th place - wow!

If he does win the double again in London and is stepping away from the track, that could be a winning narrative for Mo, tbh. Have to see what happens!

I think this year was always going to be hard for Mo but last year he should have been top 3 but he was nowhere near.

3 Yorkshire contenders tonight. Gods county

Froome didn't even make the shortlist

he also would likely have got more than 2k votes....

[quote=Flukie;84915122]2009 (I think it was) must've been a bad year for British sport! lol

Giggs won it on sentiment at the time, can't have been any other reason. I mean, I'm a United fan and it's still a mystery to me that he DID win it]

I think that the year Gazza won it, he didn't even manage to win the Tottenham player of the year. Gary Mabbutt did.

A number of the nominees won more than 2 golds in Rio. Mo did much better in the vote than any of them.

I'm a huge sports fan and am a huge fan of Mo (my third favourite sport after Tennis and Cricket) but I am a Scot and a massive Murray fan and have followed his career since he was a junior. I voted for Murray and it's the first time I've ever voted, ever.

There will be some Islamophobes but I find it hard to believe the perecntage is sufficiently high to make such a huge difference - Mo got just 1/2 the votes that Nick Skelton got.

Next year's WCh ITT arguably suits him as much as the Olympic ITT did, though it merely puts him in medal contention (assuming of course he wants to give it a serious crack).

Cycling is massively popular in this country and is growing in popularity unlike some others.

You can't use this sort of logic on here

Maybe religion comes into it but I think it's much more the 'not really British' thing and his connection to Salazar - people who haven't followed all the details of the story may well just have a vague sense that he may well have doped. Possibly any track or field athlete would have struggled this year as all the doping allegations have seriously damaged the credibility of the sport (although, having said that, there seems to be a general feeling that Brits aren't part of the problem, which I very much hope is justified).

You are absolutely right Joe and I worded my post very badly.

If he wins even just one final, his career global title tally will be in double figures.

See what I did there?

Yet the combined cyclists vote would have only come 5th

Sorry, I meant the cycling course and whether it suits a climber or sprinter. But Froome isn't really a one day rider, so his days of winning SPOTY are probably gone.

Will we ever see a snooker player nominated ever again as i think the last one to be nominated was Ronnie. But im not sure

Yes in a highly competitive year, but Hoy, Wiggins and Cavendish have all won the trophy in the last 7 or 8 years or so.

EDIT: And Brownlee isn't a bad cyclist

The Ryder Cup finished him.

Yes, there is bigotry, but SPOTY is a vote FOR award, not vote to eliminate, so the influence of those people is reduced. I doubt they'd be that keen on the Olympics anyway - too many foreigners.



It's hard to say, but in Murray's case, he has a home and pays tax in the UK - unlike Hamilton. Except when she travels with him, Murray's wife lives in their British home etc. I think if you are actually born and raised in the UK, then it's easier for the public to treat training and competing abroad as part of the job. But people do have a go at Hamilton for being a tax exile, which is fair enough IMO.

It helps that the biggest tennis tournament in the world, and the one that gets the biggest ratings on the BBC is Wimbledon, and Murray's home is within commuting distance of it, and the nearby national tennis centre. There's also Queens and the World Tour Finals, and we've had a good few home Davis Cup ties. Murray can't claim any credit for that of course, but the result is that it's not a negative for him.


Agreed. Brownlee made the point that he expected support from the people of Yorkshire, even if he realised that vote might be split. The same will go for any athlete from an area with a strong identity, and the people of Yorkshire, like Scotland, have a reputation for supporting their own. It's going to take a lot more than local support to win big, but it all helps.

Not unless it's Ronnie again. I imagine he'd have to win the Triple Crown in a season though, unless it's a poor sporting year for the UK.