BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year

Usain Bolt, winner of the Overseas Personality award of 2008

The BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year^[1] 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 is decided by a panel of over 30 sporting journalists. Each panelist votes for their top two choices; their first preference is awarded two points, and their second preference is awarded one point. The winning sportsperson has the most total points. In the case of a points tie, the sportsperson chosen as first preference by the most panelists is the winner. If this is also a tie the award is shared.^[2]

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.^[3] Since then, the award has been presented to 47 sportspersons. American boxer Muhammad Ali and Swiss tennis player Roger Federer have each won the award three times,^[4] and Australian golfer Greg Norman has won the award twice. 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.^[5] 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.^[6] 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 16. Boris Becker, who was 18 when he won in 1985, is the youngest male to have won.^[5]

Twenty different countries have been represented by the award winners. United States sportspersons have won the award the most times, having had nineteen recipients, two of whom shared the award. Two cricketers who received the award, Garfield Sobers of Barbados and Brian Lara of Trinidad and Tobago, have both played for the West Indies cricket team.^[7][8] Thirteen sporting disciplines have been represented; tennis has the highest representation, with fourteen recipients. The most recent award was presented in 2008 to Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who broke both the 100 m and 200 m world records at the 2008 Summer Olympics.^[9]

Winners

•  †  Denotes joint winners.
•  ‡  Denotes a winning couple.

Herb Elliott, the first recipient

 

Muhammad Ali (top) and Roger Federer (bottom) have both received the award three times.

Greg Norman, the only sportsperson to receive the award twice

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

Year	Nat.	Winner	Sport	Note
1960	AUS	Elliott, HerbHerb Elliott	Athletics	[6]
1961	URS	Brumel, ValeriyValeriy Brumel	Athletics	[6]
1962	CAN	Jackson, DonaldDonald Jackson	Figure skating	[6]
1963	FRA	Anquetil, JacquesJacques Anquetil	Cycling	[6]
1964	ETH	Bikila, AbebeAbebe Bikila	Athletics	[6]
1965†	AUS	Clarke, RonRon Clarke	Athletics	[10]
1965†	RSA	Player, GaryGary Player	Golf	[10]
1966†	POR	Eusébio	Football	[10]
1966†	BRB	Sobers, GarfieldGarfield Sobers	Cricket	[10]
1967	AUS	Moore, GeorgeGeorge Moore	Horse racing	[6]
1968‡	URS	Protopopov, OlegOleg Protopopov	Figure skating	[6]
1968‡	URS	Belousova, LudmilaLudmila Belousova	Figure skating	[6]
1969	AUS	Laver, RodRod Laver	Tennis	[11]
1970	BRA	Pelé	Football	[6]
1971	USA	Trevino, LeeLee Trevino	Golf	[12]
1972	URS	Korbut, OlgaOlga Korbut	Gymnastics	[13]
1973	USA	Ali, MuhammadMuhammad Ali	Boxing	[3]
1974	USA	Ali, MuhammadMuhammad Ali	Boxing	[3]
1975	USA	Ashe, ArthurArthur Ashe	Tennis	[14]
1976	ROM	Comăneci, NadiaNadia Comăneci	Gymnastics	[15]
1977	AUT	Lauda, NikiNiki Lauda	Formula One	[16]
1978	USA	Ali, MuhammadMuhammad Ali	Boxing	[3]
1979	SWE	Borg, BjörnBjörn Borg	Tennis	[17]
1980	USA	Nicklaus, JackJack Nicklaus	Golf	[18]
1981	USA	Evert, ChrisChris Evert	Tennis	[19]
1982	USA	Connors, JimmyJimmy Connors	Tennis	[20]
1983	USA	Lewis, CarlCarl Lewis	Athletics	[21]
1984	ESP	Ballesteros, SeverianoSeveriano Ballesteros	Golf	[22]
1985	FRG	Becker, BorisBoris Becker	Tennis	[10]
1986	AUS	Norman, GregGreg Norman	Golf	[23]
1987	USA	Navratilova, MartinaMartina Navratilova	Tennis	[24]
1988	FRG	Graf, SteffiSteffi Graf	Tennis	[25]
1989	USA	Tyson, MikeMike Tyson	Boxing	[26]
1990	AUS	Meninga, MalMal Meninga	Rugby league	[6]
1991	USA	Powell, MikeMike Powell	Athletics	[6]
1992	USA	Agassi, AndreAndre Agassi	Tennis	[27]
1993	AUS	Norman, GregGreg Norman	Golf	[28]
1994	TRI	Lara, BrianBrian Lara	Cricket	[29]
1995	NZL	Lomu, JonahJonah Lomu	Rugby union	[30]
1996†	USA	Holyfield, EvanderEvander Holyfield	Boxing	[31]
1996†	USA	Johnson, MichaelMichael Johnson	Athletics	[31]
1997	SUI	Hingis, MartinaMartina Hingis	Tennis	[32]
1998	USA	O'Meara, MarkMark O'Meara	Golf	[33]
1999	USA	Greene, MauriceMaurice Greene	Athletics	[34]
2000	USA	Woods, TigerTiger Woods	Golf	[35]
2001	CRO	Ivanišević, GoranGoran Ivanišević	Tennis	[36]
2002	BRA	Ronaldo	Football	[37]
2003	USA	Armstrong, LanceLance Armstrong	Cycling	[38]
2004	SUI	Federer, RogerRoger Federer	Tennis	[39]
2005	AUS	Warne, ShaneShane Warne	Cricket	[40]
2006	SUI	Federer, RogerRoger Federer	Tennis	[41]
2007	SUI	Federer, RogerRoger Federer	Tennis	[42]
2008	JAM	Bolt, UsainUsain Bolt	Athletics	[43]

By nationality

This table lists the total number of awards won by nationality based on the principle of jus soli.

Nationality	Number of wins[a]
United States	8 18
Australia	7.5 7½
Switzerland	4
Soviet Union	3
Brazil	2
Germany	2
Austria	1
Canada	1
Croatia	1
Ethiopia	1
France	1
Jamaica	1
New Zealand	1
Romania	1
Spain	1
Sweden	1
Trinidad and Tobago	1
Barbados	0.5 ½
Portugal	0.5 ½
South Africa	0.5 ½

By sport

This table lists the total number of awards won by recipient's sporting profession.

Note

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

References

General

Specific