The BBC celebrates the 60th anniversary of Sports Personality of the Year with a star-studded event in Leeds on December 15 as all the big names from British sport and beyond look back on 2013.
After another incredible year of sport, Gary Lineker, Gabby Logan and Clare Balding will present the corporation’s flagship sporting ceremony live from the First Direct Arena.
In front of a 12,000 crowd and millions watching at home, this year’s event will feature appearances by some of the greatest names in world sport.
The evening climaxes with the presentation of one of the most coveted awards in sport, which is chosen by viewers live on the night.
This year is the 60th anniversary of the show and this milestone in television history will be celebrated during the programme, as among the many famous faces in attendance will be a number of the award’s great past winners.
Last year, Tour de France and Olympic cycling champion Sir Bradley Wiggins walked away with the famous trophy and described winning it as probably his “greatest achievement”.
Ten contenders will be in with a chance of creating their own piece of history this year, but only one will be victorious.
Voting for the main award will be open to the public during the ceremony by phone – or, for the first time, viewers can cast their vote online.
Wimbledon champion Andy Murray and Tour de France winning cyclist Chris Froome headline the shortlist, which also includes athletes Mo Farah, Christine Ohuruogu and Hannah Cockroft.
Golfer Justin Rose, sailor Sir Ben Ainslie, jockey AP McCoy, cricketer Ian Bell and rugby union player Leigh Halfpenny also make the list.
With an array of candidates to choose from, the BBC’s expert panel faced some difficult choices finalising the shortlist.
Andy Murray, who ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a Wimbledon men’s singles winner, is the overwhelming favourite to win the main award.
If he were to be the public’s choice, it would be the first time that a tennis player has won the award since Greg Rusedski in 1997.
2008 Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu regained her world 400m title in Moscow, while Rose secured his maiden golf major at the US Open.
Ben Ainslie helped mastermind an America’s Cup sailing victory, Ian Bell won cricket’s Ashes with England, and there were World Championship doubles for athletes Hannah Cockroft in wheelchair racing and Farah in both the 5,000m and 10,000m.
Froome ruled in cycling’s Tour de France, Leigh Halfpenny starred in the British and Irish Lions’ triumphant tour of Australia, while the imperious AP McCoy, the only former SPOTY winner on this year’s shortlist, rode an unprecedented 4,000th winner.
Three former Sports Personality nominees were on an expert panel which decided the shortlist – and the winner will be decided by the public vote on the night.
Baroness Grey-Thompson, Dame Kelly Holmes and Marcus Trescothick were joined by Liz Nicholl, chief executive of UK Sport, along with representatives from the BBC and the newspaper industry.
The panel was put together following criticism of an all-male list decided via a different method in 2011.
In 2013, Britain and British sportsmen and women enjoyed yet more success following on from the highs of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
As has been the traditional throughout its 60-year history, the programme will relive all those great sportnig moments from the past year and much more, giving viewers the chance to look back on another sensational year.
Along with the main award of Sports Personality of the Year, other awards include a very special 60th Anniversary Diamond Award, which will honour a true sporting legend.
Further awards announced on the night will be the Team of the Year, Coach of the Year, Overseas Sports Personality of the Year, Young Sports Personality of the Year, Sports Unsung Hero and the Helen Rollason Award, which recognises inspirational achievement in the face of adversity.
BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2013 will be shown live on BBC One and BBC One HD on Sunday, December 15, with coverage of the ceremony beginning at 7.40pm.
The show will also be broadcast on BBC Radio 5 live, presented by John Inverdale, and via the BBC Sport website, where live text and audio commentary can also be found.
In addition, extra behind-the-scenes coverage will be shown across various BBC outlets, including the Red Button, online and the BBC News channel, which will screen a special red carpet show with Helen Skelton and John Watson.
To mark the 60th anniversary of BBC Sports Personality of the Year, BBC One will screen a special hour-long programme in the week building up to the 2013 ceremony that looks back at the show’s greatest moments over the past six decades.
Click here for more details on voting terms and conditions, or visit this page for details on how to vote online.
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In a special prime-time programme airing the week building up to this year’s show, presenter Gary Lineker takes a look back on the 60-year history of BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
What started in 1954 as a low-key affair with a surprise winner when Chris Chataway beat four-minute-mile record-setter Roger Bannister, has grown into one of the most anticipated nights in the sport and television calendars, with the 2012 event the biggest ever.
HRH Princess Anne, David Beckham, Lord Sebastian Coe, Sir Bradley Wiggins, Paula Radcliffe, Zara Phillips and Sir Steve Regrave are just some of the winners who recall fond memories of the night they won the main award.
Former presenter Des Lynam recounts his nerves on the night, as well as the laughs he shared with Frank Bruno and others.
Sue Barker, who stood down from hosting the show after 20 years, recalls of the moments that brought her, and viewers, to tears, including emotional presentations to legends of sport like Muhammad Ali and Sir Bobby Robson.
There are also contributions from Young Sports Personality of the Year winners Wayne Rooney and Andy Murray.
In the 60 years Sports Personality has been on the air, sport and society has evolved, but the award remains as relevant and important now as it ever has done.
Lineker explains, this is because of the public – the people who are so frequently captivated by sport, and who vote in their thousands every year to select the award winner.
As such, the roll of honour on the Sports Personality of the Year trophy reads like a who’s who of UK sport, and the programme itself has become a broadcasting institution.
BBC Sports Personality of the Year at 60 airs on BBC One and BBC One HD at 9.00pm on Wednesday, December 11.
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