BBC Sports Personality World Sport Star of the Year

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) 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.

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. 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.

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.

Winners

By year

  •  †  Denotes joint winners.
  •  ‡  Denotes a winning couple.
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
1961  Soviet Union Valeriy Brumel Athletics
1962  Canada Donald Jackson Figure skating
1963  France Jacques Anquetil Cycling
1964  Ethiopia Abebe Bikila Athletics
1965  Australia Ron Clarke Athletics
 South Africa Gary Player Golf
1966  Portugal Eusébio Football
 Barbados Garfield Sobers Cricket
1967  Australia George Moore Horse racing
1968  Soviet Union Oleg Protopopov Figure skating
 Soviet Union Ludmila Belousova Figure skating
1969  Australia Rod Laver Tennis
1970  Brazil Pelé Football
1971  United States Lee Trevino Golf
1972  Soviet Union Olga Korbut Gymnastics
1973  United States Muhammad Ali (1/3) Boxing
1974  United States Muhammad Ali (2/3) Boxing
1975  United States Arthur Ashe Tennis
1976  Romania Nadia Comăneci Gymnastics
1977  Austria Niki Lauda Formula One
1978  United States Muhammad Ali (3/3) Boxing
1979  Sweden Björn Borg Tennis
1980  United States Jack Nicklaus Golf
1981  United States Chris Evert Tennis
1982  United States Jimmy Connors Tennis
1983  United States Carl Lewis Athletics
1984  Spain Seve Ballesteros Golf
1985  West Germany Boris Becker Tennis
1986  Australia Greg Norman (1/2) Golf
1987  United States Martina Navratilova Tennis
1988  West Germany Steffi Graf Tennis
1989  United States Mike Tyson Boxing
1990  Australia Mal Meninga Rugby league
1991  United States Mike Powell Athletics
1992  United States Andre Agassi Tennis
1993  Australia Greg Norman (2/2) Golf
1994  Trinidad and Tobago Brian Lara Cricket
1995  New Zealand Jonah Lomu Rugby union
1996  United States Evander Holyfield Boxing
 United States Michael Johnson Athletics
1997   Switzerland Martina Hingis Tennis
1998  United States Mark O'Meara Golf
1999  United States Maurice Greene Athletics
2000  United States Tiger Woods Golf
2001  Croatia Goran Ivanišević Tennis
2002  Brazil Ronaldo Football
2003  United States Lance Armstrong Cycling
2004   Switzerland Roger Federer (1/4) Tennis
2005  Australia Shane Warne Cricket
2006   Switzerland Roger Federer (2/4) Tennis
2007   Switzerland Roger Federer (3/4) Tennis
2008  Jamaica Usain Bolt (1/3) Athletics
2009  Jamaica Usain Bolt (2/3) Athletics
2010  Spain Rafael Nadal Tennis
2011  Serbia Novak Djokovic Tennis
2012  Jamaica Usain Bolt (3/3) Athletics
2013  Germany Sebastian Vettel Formula One
2014  Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Football
2015  New Zealand Dan Carter Rugby union
2016  United States Simone Biles Gymnastics
2017   Switzerland Roger Federer (4/4) Tennis
2018  Italy Francesco Molinari Golf
2019  Kenya Eliud Kipchoge Athletics
2020  Russia Khabib Nurmagomedov Mixed martial arts
2021  Ireland Rachael Blackmore Horse racing
2022  Argentina Lionel Messi Football
2023  Norway Erling Haaland Football

By nationality

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

Nationality Number of wins
 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
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
Male 51.5
Female 8.5

Note

  • a1 a2 The fractions refer to occasions on which the awarded was shared between more than one person.

See also


This page was last updated at 2024-03-20 05:47 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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