The Times - UK (2020-11-26)

66 2GM Thursday November 26 2020 | the times

Sport

H

ollie Doyle has

been crowned the

Sunday Times

Sportswoman of the

Year 2020. The 24-year-

old, who recently beat

her own record for the

most wins by a female

jockey in a Flat season,

was awarded the

accolade at a virtual

ceremony last night

(Rebecca Myers writes).

Despite the

suspension of racing for

76 days due to Covid,

Doyle has had the most

successful year of her

career. In August she

became the first woman

to ride five winners in a

day, at Windsor,

overcoming cumulative

odds of 899-1.

“I was honoured even

to be nominated,” she

said. “So to have won it

is a massive privilege.”

The Disability

Sportswoman of the

Year was won by Dame

Sarah Storey, in

recognition of the three

world track cycling titles

she won in February.

She is aiming to become

the most successful

Paralympian of all time

at the Tokyo Games.

Sue Barker, the

broadcaster and former

tennis player, received

the talkSPORT Lifetime

Achievement award,

while the Instagram star

Alice Liveing won the

Influencer award, a new

accolade to recognise

the impact of women

who kept people active

during lockdown.

The Young Inspiration

award was won by the

Birmingham City player

Layla Banaras, 14, and

the Vitality Grassroots

Sportswoman of the

Year award by the

Barnes RFC player

Zainab Alema.

6 Interviews with the

winners will be in this

weekend’s Sunday Times

Doyle honoured for

record-breaking year

FRANCESCA ALTOFT/HUGH ROUTLEDGE/REX

Doyle set a new

mark for most wins

by a female jockey

in a Flat season

The

SSSportswo

Year was

D

m

b

in

Rashford to

receive award

from SPOTY

December 21, the night after the Sports

Personality of the Year awards.

Rashford will receive another

accolade today when he is named as

one of the most influential black people

in British football. The striker heads the

Football Black List, an initiative that

shines a light on the contribution of

black people in various areas of the

game and society.

The list, released today, focuses on

the work of black leaders in every area

of the sport, from coaching and man-

agement to commercial and communi-

ty. Tyrone Mings, Troy Deeney and

Wilfried Zaha are also included: Mings

and Deeney have used their profiles

and platforms to stand against racial in-

justice, while Zaha helped NHS nurses

by donating the use of his properties in

south London during the pandemic.

Also on the list is Chloe Morgan, the

Crystal Palace women’s goalkeeper,

who is working to raise awareness for

black and LGBT+ issues.

Leon Mann, who co-founded the

Football Black List in 2008, said:

“Despite one in three professionals in

the men’s game being black and driving

more than a billion pounds a season for

the national sport, the community is

hugely underrepresented in leading

roles within the game.

“Our aim is to highlight black

excellence in all areas of football as

an encouragement to the next

generation, but also to open up

honest discussions about why

black people are still so under-

represented and, vitally, how

we address this.”

There are only five black

managers, one black British

chairman and no black

chief executives across the

92 league clubs. The boards of

the FA and Premier League do

not feature one black British

person with voting rights.

“To say this is a very

uncomfortable dynamic is

an understatement,”

Mann said. “A more

diverse football in-

dustry is a better

football industry.”

6 To see the full

2020 Football

Black List go to

thetimes.co.uk

Tom Roddy

Rashford is not

in line for the

BBC’s main prize

Marcus Rashford’s campaign to end
child food poverty has earned him a
special award from the BBC’s Sports
Personality of the Year panel.
Rashford, 23, was tipped to be among
the contenders for the main award after
forcing Boris Johnson into a U-turn
over providing free school meal vouch-
ers, and launching a reading scheme.
But while the England and Manches-
ter United striker will not be included
on the shortlist at the awards on
December 20, his off-the-pitch work
will be recognised. Rashford success-
fully lobbied the government to provide
free school meal vouchers to disadvan-
taged families over the summer.
The scheme has been extended
through the Christmas period after
Rashford’s campaigning resulted in the
prime minister laying on £170 million of
extra funding.
A BBC spokesman said: “The criteria
for selecting nominees for the shortlist
is, and always has been, centred around
sporting achievement.
“While Marcus has had a huge
impact outside of his sport — which led
to the panel giving him their Special
Award — the panel felt his sporting
achievement this year wasn’t enough
for him to make the shortlist for the
main award.”
Lewis Hamilton, who
finished second to Ben
Stokes last year, is this year’s
favourite after winning a
record-equalling seventh
Formula One championship
last week. The snooker
player Ronnie O’Sullivan is
also among the book-
makers’ favourites,
having claimed his
sixth World Champi-
onship this year.
Rashford was United’s
joint-top scorer in the Pre-
mier League last season
with 17 goals, alongside An-
thony Martial, as Ole Gun-
nar Solskjaer’s side finished
third. But his sporting
achievements were out-
shone by his campaigning,
which is featured in an
hour-long BBC One
documentary, to air on