Tom Daley 27, Diving (Odds: 12-1)
Secured an elusive Olympic gold
medal in Tokyo alongside Matty Lee
in the synchronised 10m platform.Tyson Fury 33, Boxing (20-1)
The larger-than-life boxer retained
his WBC title in style by knocking
out Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas.Adam Peaty 26, Swimming (66-1)
Became the first British swimmer to
defend an Olympic title in winning
100m breaststroke gold in Tokyo.Emma Raducanu 19, Tennis (1-20)
Became the first qualifier ever to
claim a grand-slam trophy when she
won the US Open in September.Raheem Sterling 27, Football (100-1)
The Manchester City forward was
England’s standout player at Euro
2020, scoring three goals as Gareth
Southgate’s side reached the final.Sarah Storey 44, Cycling (150-1)
Secured place in history as Britain’s
most successful Paralympian by
winning a 17th gold medal in Tokyo.How voting works
Voting takes place during the live
show tomorrow. Viewers can vote
by phone or via the BBC website.Spoty contenders
the times | Saturday December 18 2021 1GS 17Sport
WEEKENDQUIZ
1 Who scored a hat-
trick for Racing 92 in
their 45-14 win against
Northampton Saints
last weekend?
2 Which three-time
British Olympian
announced her
retirement from short
track speed skating
this week?
3 How many Premier
League goals has
Liverpool’s Mohamed
Salah scored this
season?
4 Which Exeter Chiefs
player became the first
lock to score a hat-
trick in Champions Cuphistory last weekend?
5 Name this female
tennis player, who won
five grand slams in the
1990s, using the
following anagram.
Hiring Stamina
6 Who scored two
penalties for Chelsea
to see off Leeds United
in the Premier League?
7 Which team has won
the Heineken
Champions Cup more
than any other?
8 Whose crash led to
the implementation of
a safety car during the
final laps of the Abu
Dhabi Grand Prix,which eventually led to
Max Verstappen
overtaking Lewis
Hamilton to win the
Formula One drivers’
championship?
9 Which
Norwegian scored
twice in Arsenal
Women’s 4-0
hammering of
Leicester City on
Sunday?
10 Who has replaced
Virat Kohli as India’s
white-ball cricket
captain?
11 Which basketball
player broke Ray
Allen’s record for mostthree-pointers in the
NBA this week?
12 Who has won more
women’s grand-slam
tennis titles than any
other player with 24?
13 Which former
Manchester City striker
retired from football
this week as a result of
a heart problem?14 Name this Open
Championship host
using the following
emojis:15 Which Australian
batsman was
dismissed in the 90s
for the second time in
two Tests against
England on Thursday?ANSWERSElise 2 Wenceslas Lauret; 15 Jonny Gray; 4 15; 3 Christie;Martina Hingis (Switzerland);Toulouse (five); 7 Jorginho; 69 Nicholas Latifi (Williams); 8Rohit 10 Frida Maanum;Stephen Curry 11 Sharma;12 (Golden State Warriors);Sergio 13 Margaret Court;15 Carnoustie; 14 Agüero;David Warner.ANSWER FROM PAGE 2Joe Marler. Guess the starFOR THE WEEKEND
TV SERIESAZZURRI – ROAD TO
WEMBLEY (Netflix)
In the age of the
endless umpteen-part
sports documentary,
thank god for Azzurri- Road to Wembley
(writes Charlie Talbot-
Smith). A film that
goes behind the
scenes of Italy’s run
to the Euro 2020 title
but in less than an
hour. The squad’s
team spirit is
infectious, Roberto
Mancini’s array of
outfits glorious and
the tactical insights
served up on his
whiteboard before
each round delicious.PODCASTCHRIS SIMMS
UNBUTTONED
Chris Simms was a
long way from being
an elite NFL
quarterback (writes
Matt Tench). Dad Phil
was a bigger star, but
as a podcaster Chris is
among the very best:
fearless, opinionated
and irreverent. He
combines a deep
knowledge of his sport
with an even deeper
passion, one he finds
impossible to convey
without liberal use of
expletives.lo
aaana
qq
M w a a f a c kbeing angry at the Spoty awards so let
us just say it seems strange to have
limited an ever-so-short list to six
names.
Tyson Fury is included despite
claiming that he does not want to be
yet, ludicrously, there is no place for
Mark Cavendish, who pulled off one
of the sporting comebacks for the
ages not just in returning to the start
line for the Tour de France after years
of depression, debilitating illness and
professional rejection but winning
four stages to draw level with the
record of 34 held by Eddy Merckx. “A
f***ing fairytale,” Cavendish told me
recently. A baffling omission.
The BBC has been forced to scale
down plans for the show, cancelling a
studio audience, but it seems odd to
have limited those who could be
celebrated up in lights. Why not a
first nomination for a couple given
that Laura and Jason Kenny becameB
eing thankful for the sport
we have enjoyed in the
previous 12 months is a
familiar theme of the BBC
Sports Personality of the
Year show. Facing a weekend with a
decimated fixture list, that gratitude
may feel particularly pronounced by
tomorrow evening.
Finding ourselves in the grip of a
fresh Covid outbreak that shrinks our
worlds, as each news bulletin brings
worse news, adds poignancy to end-
of-year reflections.
Was I really in the grip of a giddy
summer of football, two teenage sons
bleaching hair blond in tribute to Phil
Foden, as an England football team
carried themselves with such steady
resolve and admirable cohesion to the
first final of a tournament since 1966?
Ah, wondrous days.
Did I really make it all the way to
Tokyo to watch the Olympics and
marvel at humanity’s athleticism —
from teenage skateboarders to rock
climbers sprinting up a vertical wall
— as the Games went ahead a year
after schedule, overcoming all the
worst fears?
To be in Porto to watch two English
teams fight for the Champions
League trophy; gripped by one of the
most exciting Formula One seasons;
seeing Harlequins win the Gallagher
Premiership title with staggering
comebacks — after the turbulence
and sporting privations of 2020 it
could feel like feast after famine.
It would not be sport without
disappointments — a British & Irish
Lions tour that never truly ignited
behind closed doors and a Ryder Cup
defeat for Europe that became a
trouncing — but there were times
when life felt normal and sport
seemed more uplifting than ever.
Watching Emma Raducanu withEmma a worthy
winner but why
no Cavendish?
friends gripped to the TV on a
Saturday night, a British teenager no
one had heard of this time last year
winning the US Open without
dropping a set, was to witness a
sporting miracle.
It was not just the victory —
concluded with an ace — but the way
in which Raducanu, 18, and Leylah
Fernandez, her 19-year-old opponent,
smashed the ball to and fro in that
final at Flushing Meadows which
made sport not only compelling but
fun. It was a match that transcended
tennis to become a national
conversation. After all those months
of social distancing, we craved
these shared moments more than
ever.
As the world threatens to
close in again, I have the feeling
that I will be watching
tomorrow night with all sorts of
emotions ready to bubble up as
we rewind an unusually packed
and unprecedented year.
Call me an old fool but even
listening to the Euro 2020 anthem —
Bono belting out We Are The People
— can make me tearily wistful. The
final — let’s not dwell on the outcome
— was the UK’s most-watched TV
event in more than 20 years with a
peak viewing audience of almost
31 million of us. We will be reminded
of great times we shared and, being a
World Cup year in 2022, the hope
that we can do so again soon, Covid-
permitting. Perhaps by then our only
care will be whether England can go
all the way.
Raheem Sterling has been
nominated for the BBC Spoty award
for his leading role in England’s best
run in 55 years, but Raducanu’s
victory is surely a given. It is
unfortunate that she will not be able
to attend in the studios in Salford
given that she is in isolation in Abu
Dhabi after contracting Covid, but
also a fitting sign of the times.
She will, presumably, have to
present the trophy to herself. Will
someone leave it at her door along
with room-service breakfast? I swore
long ago never again to waste timeMatt
Dickinson
the most successful female and male
British Olympians by taking their
haul to 12 golds, amid remarkable
drama in the velodrome?
Tom Daley is the second favourite,
behind Raducanu, after winning his
first Olympic gold at his fourth
Games and speaking so powerfully
about his experiences (not to mention
services to knitting) to become a bona
fide national treasure.
“I feel incredibly proud to say that I
am a gay man and also an Olympic
champion,” he said after winning gold
with Matty Lee in the synchronised
event. “When I was younger I didn’t
think I’d ever achieve anything
because of who I was.” Who could be
less than ecstatic if Daley wins?
Also on the list are Sarah Storey,
who became the most successful
British Paralympian with 17 gold
medals, and Adam Peaty, who pulled
off a first in British swimming byretaining his Olympic title in the
100m breaststroke.
Given the controversy of his F1
victory over Lewis Hamilton, Max
Verstappen should probably not wait
for a call to see if he has won the
World Sport Star category. Nor
Novak Djokovic, despite coming so
close to becoming the first man in
more than 50 years to win all four
tennis majors in the same year, given
his alarming views on Covid.
The favourite in that category is the
trailblazing Rachael Blackmore, the
Irish jockey who became the first
female rider to win the Grand
National at Aintree with victory on
Minella Times.
Perhaps it will be a celebration of
women all round given that the
contenders for team of the year
include Chelsea’s women, for a
domestic Treble, and the England
women’s rugby team, who are on an
18-game winning streak.
If chosen by the public during a live
vote tomorrow, Raducanu will
become the first female winner since
Zara Phillips in 2006. Her isolation
will reflect extraordinary times but,
for a couple of hours, it is
extraordinary sport that we need to
revel in. Perhaps more than ever.Raducanu’s victory in New York became part of the national conversation,
making her the strong favourite to be named Sports Personality of the YearSETH WENIG/APHow to watch
SPOTYLive on BBC1 from
6.45pm tomorrow —
winner of main award
announced at 9pm