As we approach this year’s BBC Sports Personality Awards, it seems a formality that the main prize is Andy Murray’s for the taking after becoming the first male British winner at Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936.

It was undeniably a fantastic achievement fully deserving of the euphoric reaction it received from the British public. However, are pundits and fans overlooking the other nominees because of the scale of Murray’s triumph?

Perhaps more credit should be given to Mo Farah’s sporting achievements this year, and in fact, over the past two years. Farah’s achievements have cemented him as one of the greatest British athletes of all time by dominating the World Championships in Moscow earlier this year, winning gold in both the 5,000 and 10,000 metre events.

The scale of this achievement is made even more striking by the fact he is one of only two athletes to win two titles at both the Olympics, as he did at London 2012, and the World Championships. Farah is truly one British athlete who has dominated his field, especially in long-distance track where Great Britain have rarely had such success in the face of Kenyan domination.

However it must be noted that not only sporting achievements come into play, after all it is an award of personality. In that regard Farah fits the bill. His TV appearances have shown him to be a grounded and modest character and this has made him popular with the British public.

Farah’s domination of his field has displayed great determination and grit. Farah was unlucky not to have won last year’s award, but in the face of Wiggins’ double achievements at the Olympics and the Tour de France, these unfortunately overshadowed him. This year Murray is set to do the same.

Whatever the result, Farah has proved to be an inspirational ambassador for British athletics and for Britain’s Somali community, but if he did in fact win, it would be befitting of a momentous two years.

 

Rhys Stevens