Chris Hoy, a 32 year old Scot from Edinburgh has just been voted the 2008 BBC Sports Personality of the Year for his epic achievement in winning 3 Gold Medals at the Beijing Olympics, the most successful British cyclist in Olympic history. The last time a cyclist won this sports award was Tommy Simpson in 1965.
Runner up was 23 year old Lewis Hamilton, the youngest person to become World Motor Racing Champion, who comes from Stevenage just down the road. Third place went to Rebecca Adlington, a bubbly 19 year old blonde from Middlesborough, who won 2 Gold Medals in swimming at the Beijing Olympics - and still gets up at 5am every day to practise! The most noticeable feature about these three sports personalities is their natural charm and modesty over their fantastic successes as British athletes, so different from the antics of some of our pampered and overpaid footballers.
Sadly the lovely Victoria Pendleton, Bedfordshire's own Olympic Gold Medal cyclist, pictured above, just missed the final shortlist but she gave a gracious acceptance speech when accepting the BBC Sport Team Award on behalf of the Olympic Cycling Team. The team cycled into the Liverpool studio in their sports gear, before changing back into their more glamorous evening clothes. David Brailsford the Olympic Cycling Coach won the BBC Sports Coach of the Year Award - a fantastic haul of well deserved BBC Sports awards for our brilliant British cyclists.
The other photograph is of tiny 13 year old Eleanor Simmonds, who won a gold medal in swimming at the Beijing Paralympics, the youngest ever British winner, and she was voted the BBC Young Personality of the Year tonight.
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