2008 BBC SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR

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.

LONDON 2012 HERE WE COME!

On Sunday Bedfordshire welcomed home Victoria Pendleton from Stotfold, our World Cycling Champion who won an Olympic Gold Medal in Beijing in the Women's Cycling Sprint.

Victori'as success helped Bedfordshire County Council to be chosen to receive one of only 500 Olympic Handover Flags, delivered to selected councils, embassies and HM Forces worldwide. This flag symbolises the formal handover to London which will host the 2012 Olympic Games and will be flown at County Hall for the next 5 weeks.

Other Olympic Gold Medal Winners have been welcomed home, incoluding Rebecca Atherton, 19, from Mansfield who won 2 Gold Medals for swimming. Mansfield people were ecstatic at her success and are renaming both the local swimming pool and a pub in her honour. Stotfold has renamed a road Pendleton Way but wants to commemorate Victoria's Olympic success - does anyone have any bright ideas?

During the wet and gloomy days of August with the credit crunch and the war between Georgia and Russia, these young British Olympians cheered us all up by winning 47 medals, including 19 gold and restored British confidence in our sporting prowess.

BRITISH WOMEN WIN 4 MORE OLYMPIC MEDALS IN BEIJING

Today Bryony Shaw became the 1st British woman to win a Windsurfing Olympic medal when she won the Bronze Medal in the RS:X Women's Race. In the Women's Swimming Marathon 10 km, Keri-Anne Payne won the Silver Medal and her team mate Cassie Patten the Bronze Medal. The latest news is that Tasha Danvers has just won an unexpected Bronze Medal in the Women's 400 m Hurdles and achieved a Personal Best time in spite of suffering 2 serious leg injuries earlier in the year. Britain now has 37 medals, including 16 gold medals and remains in 3rd place ahead of Russia and Australia.

Just to remind you of Britain's success in winning 4 Gold Medals yesterday, here is another photograph of the lovely Victoria Pendleton from Bedfordshire who won the Cycling Women's Sprint in 11.1 seconds and is now an Olympic Champion.

Britain still has more gold medal chances. Watch out for Shanaze Reade in the BMX bike event, Philips Idowu in the Men's Triple Jump and Tim Brabants in Kayaking. Also 3 boxers have reached the semi finals, guaranteeing them at least a bronze medal each - David Price super-heavyweight, James Degale middleweight, and Tony Jeffries, aged 23, the light heavyweight boxer who once sold hamburgers from a van. Britain has not won more than one Olympic Boxing medal since Munich 1972.

OLYMPIC GOLD FOR BEDFORDSHIRE CYCLIST VICTORIA PENDLETON

Victoria Pendleton, our own World Champion Cyclist from Stotfold in Bedfordshire stormed home in the Olympic Women's Sprint today in 11.1 seconds to win her first Olympic Gold Medal and the first Gold Medal for Bedfordshire and the Eastern Region.
Victoria's Gold Medal brings the Cycling Team's total medal haul to an astonishing 14medals, including 8 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze - 7 golds in Track Cycling alone.

Chris Hoy battled with his British team mate Jason Kenny in the Men's Sprint Finals to win his 3rd Gold Medal and Jason won the Silver Medal. Chris Hoy has achieved three Olympic records. He is the 1st Briton to win 3 gold medals (+ 1 silver) in one Olympic Games for 100 years, the most successful Scottish Olympic athlete ever and the most successful track cyclist, with 4 Olympic gold medals and 1 silver medal. British cyclists have dominated the Beijing Olympics, winning a gold and silver medal in 3 events and have totally outclassed cyclists from other nations.

The first Gold Medal today was won by Paul Goodison in the Sailing Laser Class and this afternoon Christina Ohuruoga unexpectedly won Britain's first Athletics Gold Medal in the Women's 400 metres. Also Germaine Mason won a Silver Medal in the High Jump with a jump of 2m 30. On Monday a 3rd gold medal was won by Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield in Sailing which has the highest gold medal total after the cyclists.

Britain now has an amazing 33 medals, including 16 Gold in 8 different sports - our best result for 100 years and it is all down to our dedicated young athletes and their superb coaches who have worked hard for years to achieve Olympic glory.
We salute you all and look forward to more successes in future.

BRITISH GIRLPOWER IN BEIJING

Emma Pooley, a 25 year old Cambridge graduate won a Silver Olympic Medal yesterday and demonstrated the true Olympic spirit. On Sunday she took part in the gruelling Beijing Road Race, helping her team mate Nicole Clark to win Britain's 1st Gold Medal but only came 23rd herself. Yesterday it was Emma's turn and this tiny 7 stone cyclist battled up the Beijing hills on a specially adapted bicycle in the Women's Time Trial Cycling Event, missing a Gold Medal by just a few seconds.

On Tuesday the Equestrian Team achieved a double bronze in the 3-day Event, with Tina Cook, a 37 year old mother of two winning individual and team bronze medals with her 4 team mates including Mary King, Daisy Dick and Sharon Hunt.

Where are the British men? So far British women have won 5 of the 6 individual medals, including 2 Gold Medals for swimming and cycling and 9 of the 11 British medals overall. David Florence won a Silver Medal in canoeing and William Fox-Pitt a Team Bronze Medal in the 3-day Event but what happened to Andy Murray and Tom Daley the 14 year old British diving wonder?

Our Bedfordshire women have a chance to shine this weekend. On Tuesday Gail Emms, the Bedford badminton player won a ferocious 1st round match with her partner Nathan Robertson against the 2004 Chinese Olympic Champions. Victoria Pendleton, 2007 World Cycling Champion from Stotfold cycles on Saturday and Paula Radcliffe, 2005 World Marathon Champion, runs in the Sunday Marathon. Good luck to them all.