BBC World Sport Star of the Year
CountryUnited Kingdom
Presented byBBC Sports Personality of the Year
Formerly calledBBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year
First awarded1960; 64 years ago (1960)
Most recent winnerErling Haaland (2023)

The BBC World Sport Star of the Year (formerly known as the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year[1][2]) is an award presented at the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year award ceremony. The award is presented to a non-British sportsperson considered to have made the most substantial contribution to a sport in that year. The award was decided by a panel of over 30 sporting journalists. Each panellist voted for their top two choices; their first preference was awarded two points, and their second preference was awarded one point. The winning sportsperson had the most total points. In the case of a points tie, the sportsperson chosen as first preference by the most panellists is the winner. If this is also a tie the award is shared.[3] In 2015 the public voted for this award.

The Overseas Personality award was first presented in 1960, six years after the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award was introduced. The first recipient of the award was Australian middle distance runner Herb Elliott.[4] Since then, the award has been presented to 52 sportspersons. Swiss tennis player Roger Federer has won the award four times. American boxer Muhammad Ali and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt have both won the award three times.[5] The award has been shared on three occasions—by Ron Clarke and Gary Player in 1965, Eusébio and Garfield Sobers in 1966, and Evander Holyfield and Michael Johnson in 1996.[6] The husband-and-wife skating duo of Oleg Protopopov and Ludmila Belousova are the only pair to have won the award, doing so in 1968.[7] Belousova was the first woman to become Overseas Personality—she was also the oldest, aged 33. George Moore is the oldest recipient of the award, winning in 1967 aged 44. The youngest recipient of the award is Nadia Comăneci, who won in 1976 at age 15. Boris Becker, who was 18 when he won in 1985, is the youngest male to have won.[6]

Twenty-seven different countries have been represented by the award winners as of 2023. United States sportspersons have won the award the most times, having had nineteen recipients, two of whom shared the award. Three cricketers have received the award -- Garfield Sobers of Barbados, Brian Lara of Trinidad and Tobago (both of whom played for the West Indies cricket team), and Shane Warne of Australia.[8][9] Fourteen sporting disciplines have been represented; tennis has the highest representation, with fifteen recipients.

Only one winner has ever been stripped of the award – U.S. cyclist Lance Armstrong, whose 2003 award was rescinded following the UCI's 2012 decision to strip him of his titles and ban him for life from the sport.[10]

In 2018, the award was renamed BBC World Sport Star of the Year. Along with the change of name, votes could be cast from outside of the UK for the first time.[2]

Winners

By year

Roger Federer received the award a record four times
Herb Elliott, the first recipient
Pelé received the award in 1970 after winning a record third FIFA World Cup
Muhammad Ali (top) and Usain Bolt (bottom) received the award three times.
Greg Norman received the award two times
Oleg Protopopov and Ludmila Belousova, joint recipients of the award in 1968, are also husband and wife.
Evander Holyfield, who shared the award with Michael Johnson in 1996
Mixed martial artist Khabib Nurmagomedov won the award in 2020
Erling Haaland is the latest winner of this award (2023).
BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year winners
Year Nationality Winner Sport Note
1960  Australia Herb Elliott Athletics [7]
1961  Soviet Union Valeriy Brumel Athletics [7]
1962  Canada Donald Jackson Figure skating [7]
1963  France Jacques Anquetil Cycling [7]
1964  Ethiopia Abebe Bikila Athletics [7]
1965  Australia Ron Clarke † Athletics [11]
 South Africa Gary Player † Golf [11]
1966  Portugal Eusébio † Football [11]
 Barbados Garfield Sobers † Cricket [11]
1967  Australia George Moore Horse racing [7]
1968  Soviet Union Oleg Protopopov ‡ Figure skating [7]
 Soviet Union Ludmila Belousova ‡ Figure skating [7]
1969  Australia Rod Laver Tennis [12]
1970  Brazil Pelé Football [7]
1971  United States Lee Trevino Golf [13]
1972  Soviet Union Olga Korbut Gymnastics [14]
1973  United States Muhammad Ali (1/3) Boxing [4]
1974  United States Muhammad Ali (2/3) Boxing [4]
1975  United States Arthur Ashe Tennis [15]
1976  Romania Nadia Comăneci Gymnastics [16]
1977  Austria Niki Lauda Formula One [17]
1978  United States Muhammad Ali (3/3) Boxing [4]
1979  Sweden Björn Borg Tennis [18]
1980  United States Jack Nicklaus Golf [19]
1981  United States Chris Evert Tennis [20]
1982  United States Jimmy Connors Tennis [21]
1983  United States Carl Lewis Athletics [22]
1984  Spain Seve Ballesteros Golf [23]
1985  West Germany Boris Becker Tennis [11]
1986  Australia Greg Norman (1/2) Golf [24]
1987  United States Martina Navratilova Tennis [25]
1988  West Germany Steffi Graf Tennis [26]
1989  United States Mike Tyson Boxing [27]
1990  Australia Mal Meninga Rugby league [7]
1991  United States Mike Powell Athletics [7]
1992  United States Andre Agassi Tennis [28]
1993  Australia Greg Norman (2/2) Golf [29]
1994  Trinidad and Tobago Brian Lara Cricket [30]
1995  New Zealand Jonah Lomu Rugby union [31]
1996  United States Evander Holyfield † Boxing [32]
 United States Michael Johnson † Athletics [32]
1997   Switzerland Martina Hingis Tennis [33]
1998  United States Mark O'Meara Golf [34]
1999  United States Maurice Greene Athletics [35]
2000  United States Tiger Woods Golf [36]
2001  Croatia Goran Ivanišević Tennis [37]
2002  Brazil Ronaldo Football [38]
2003  United States Lance Armstrong Cycling [39]
2004   Switzerland Roger Federer (1/4) Tennis [40]
2005  Australia Shane Warne Cricket [41]
2006   Switzerland Roger Federer (2/4) Tennis [42]
2007   Switzerland Roger Federer (3/4) Tennis [43]
2008  Jamaica Usain Bolt (1/3) Athletics [44]
2009  Jamaica Usain Bolt (2/3) Athletics [45]
2010  Spain Rafael Nadal Tennis [46]
2011  Serbia Novak Djokovic Tennis [47]
2012  Jamaica Usain Bolt (3/3) Athletics [48]
2013  Germany Sebastian Vettel Formula One [49]
2014  Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Football [50]
2015  New Zealand Dan Carter Rugby union [51]
2016  United States Simone Biles Gymnastics [52]
2017   Switzerland Roger Federer (4/4) Tennis [53]
2018  Italy Francesco Molinari Golf [54]
2019  Kenya Eliud Kipchoge Athletics [55]
2020  Russia Khabib Nurmagomedov Mixed martial arts [56]
2021  Ireland Rachael Blackmore Horse racing [57]
2022  Argentina Lionel Messi Football [58]
2023  Norway Erling Haaland Football [59]

By nationality

This table lists the total number of awards won by place of birth.

Nationality Number of wins[a]
 United States 19
 Australia 8
  Switzerland 5
 Soviet Union 4
 Germany 3
 Jamaica 3
 Brazil 2
 New Zealand 2
 Portugal 2
 Spain 2
 Argentina 1
 Austria 1
 Barbados 1
 Canada 1
 Croatia 1
 Ethiopia 1
 France 1
 Ireland 1
 Italy 1
 Kenya 1
 Norway 1
 Romania 1
 Russia 1
 Serbia 1
 South Africa 1
 Sweden 1
 Trinidad and Tobago 1

By sport

This table lists the total number of awards won by recipient's sporting profession.

Sporting profession Number of wins[a]
Tennis 17
Athletics 12
Golf 9
Football 6
Boxing 5
Cricket 3
Figure skating 3
Gymnastics 3
Formula One 2
Horse racing 2
Rugby union 2
Cycling 1 2
Rugby league 1
Mixed martial arts 1

By gender

This table lists the total number of awards won by gender.

Gender Number of wins[a]
Male 51.5
Female 8.5

Note

See also

References

General
  • "Sports Personality of the Year: overseas winners". BBC. December 2007. Archived from the original on 15 January 2009. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
Specific
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  2. ^ a b "BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2018: Nominees to be revealed live on the night". BBC. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  3. ^ "Sports Personality voting & judging: Terms & conditions". BBC. 18 November 2008. Archived from the original on 18 January 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d "Sports Personality facts and figures". BBC. 9 October 2008. Archived from the original on 17 December 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2009.
  5. ^ "Joe Calzaghe named Sports Personality of the Year". Daily Post. 10 December 2007. Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
  6. ^ a b "50th Sports Personality of the Year: Facts and figures". BBC. 11 November 2003. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
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  8. ^ Mike Selvey (10 April 2004). "Batting on". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  9. ^ Martin Gough (19 April 2007). "Legend Lara to end Windies career". BBC. Archived from the original on 4 February 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  10. ^ "BBC strip Lance Armstrong of award". Evening Standard. London. 18 December 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
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  13. ^ "Past winners: 1968–1972: 1971 Winner". BBC. 27 November 2003. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2009.
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  31. ^ Baker, Andrew (17 December 1995). "Des takes charge of great leap backwards". The Independent. London. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  32. ^ a b "Hill wins BBC award for second time". The Independent. London. 16 December 1996. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
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  35. ^ Turnbull, Simon (19 December 1999). "Lean Greene on a quest for Mo Gold". The Independent. London. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
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  39. ^ "Armstrong stripped of BBC prize". ESPN Star.com. 17 December 2012. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013.
  40. ^ Rowbottom, Mike (13 December 2004). "Sports Awards: Holmes wins BBC Sports Personality of the Year". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 31 August 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
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  43. ^ Bolton, Paul (10 December 2007). "Calzaghe is BBC Sports Personality of the Year". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
  44. ^ Smith, Ed (19 December 2008). "Usain Bolt and the paradox of sprinting evolution". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
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  46. ^ "Rafael Nadal claims overseas prize". Sporting Life. 19 December 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2010.[permanent dead link]
  47. ^ "Sports Personality of the Year 2011: Novak Djokovic wins overseas award". BBC News. 22 December 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
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  49. ^ "Sebastien Vettel wins Oversea Sports Personality award". ITV News. 15 December 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  50. ^ "Cristiano Ronaldo wins BBC Overseas Sports Personality award". BBC Sport. 14 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  51. ^ "Sports Personality of the Year: Dan Carter wins 2015 Overseas award". BBC Sport. 19 December 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  52. ^ "BBC Sports Personality 2016: Simone Biles wins overseas award". BBC Sport. 18 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  53. ^ "BBC Sports Personality 2017: Roger Federer wins BBC overseas award for record fourth time". BBC Sport. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  54. ^ "Francesco Molinari wins SPOTY 2018 World Sport Star of the Year award". Mirror. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  55. ^ "Eliud Kipchoge wins World Sport Star of the Year 2019". BBC. 15 December 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  56. ^ "BBC NAMES KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV WORLD SPORT STAR OF 2020". ufc. 19 December 2020.
  57. ^ "Sports Personality 2021: Rachael Blackmore crowned BBC's World Sport Star of the Year". BBC Sport. 19 December 2021.
  58. ^ "Lionel Messi named BBC Sports Personality's World Sport Star of the Year". BBC Sport. 19 December 2022.
  59. ^ "Sports Personality of the Year 2023: Erling Haaland named World Sport Star of the Year". BBC Sport. 19 December 2023.

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