I was one of many who were a bit miffed to see no woman on the Sports Personality of the Year list. Granted a lot of those fella’s, especially Cavendish, Cook and Donald, probably deserve to be on there but Murray? Khan? I’m not sure; here is a list of my top ten women in sport this year. I thought I would make it a countdown and all, athletes are competitive and I'm sure the women on the list thrive on any form of competition.
10. Hayley Turner
I'm not a big fan of horse racing and perhaps that’s why Hayley only makes it in at number 10 but I do know this, this is a real quality jockey who may have reached 100 winners again this year if it wasn’t for injury. She’s also claimed 2 group 1 winners this calendar year. She has been making a real impact on and off the racecourse with her friendly and social interactions online. Check out her website and twitter and you will see what I mean, in terms of personality she has plenty of that as well.
9. Hannah England
I remember watching the 1500m final in Daegu this summer. I was stunned, England’s final stretch was an incredible feat jumping from 7th to 2nd and to win silver at her first global championship meet was magnificent and I remember being blown away by her. She also set a new personal best in Barcelona of 4.01.89, nearly 4 seconds shaved off her time at the Worlds. At 24 she’s also a real prospect for the future not to mention her surname is a tabloid papers dream for 2012.
8. Charlotte Edwards
She deserves some recognition as she has achieved some great things over the years with England cricket and this year has been no different. She plays, and excels, at all 3 disciplines of the game and is the lynchpin of what is a very successful side. Her 138 against South Africa was a real highlight of the year.
7. Katy McLean
For some reason she is pretty much unknown, but she has had an incredible year, since becoming England captain at the turn of 2011 she has helped excel England to the upper echelon of World rugby. A six Nations Grand slam and test series win against World Champions New Zealand followed during which she exuded confidence which spread through the team. The fly halves kicking game was flawless at times and at 25 she should be producing even more of this for a long time to come.
6. Beth Tweddle
What a success story this girl’s career has been and this year she wrapped up her 3rd consecutive and 4th overall European championship gold in the uneven bars in Berlin. No double gold this year after a calf injury hampered her in the floor and she ended up finishing fourth, but the consistency and level of performance this woman has shown for the last 2 years is incredible. That now takes her to 10 first class gold medals in World championships, European Championships and Commonwealth games; let’s hope she adds Olympic gold to that list come 2012.
5. Keri-Anne Payne
The 10k Open Water swim isn’t the world’s most popular sport or discipline but it is one to be respected. An extremely tough endurance race which also requires great navigation, Kerri –Anne is now a double world champion after reclaiming the championship in Shanghai this year. She was also the first Briton to qualify for next summer’s Olympics where she will be the favourite for gold.
4. Helen Jenkins
Triathlete and for the second time in her career the current world champion after a 3rd place finish at the Grand Final of the World Championship Series. That’s right the World Champion of triathlon is decided by a series of triathlon meets over the course of a year. The consistently high level she has to perform at for an extended period of time shows incredible character and determination and she deserves more, if any time, in the limelight, another real gold medal hope for 2012.
3. Rebbeca Adlington
Another good year for Adlington and has to go into next year’s Olympics as the strong favourite in the 800m freestyle. She is one of the best known out of all the athletes on this list and she is making a splash (awful pun) for women’s sport, without necessarily knowing it. The girl from Mansfield knows how to win and wants to win & that’s why her 2 medals, 1 silver & 1 gold, at this year’s World Championships came as no surprise.
2. Chrissy Wellington
Her former coach Brett Sutton described Wellington as ‘’overshadowed by no one in any other sport’’. It’s hard not to agree, Ironman Triathlon doesn’t have the coverage it might deserve but it is gruelling. Chrissy Wellington has been world champion 4 times in the last 5 years. She is currently undefeated over Ironman distance. How this lady is not better known is a mystery to me because she is an astonishing athlete and possibly Britain’s best, regardless of gender.
1. Sarah Stevenson
What a year for Sarah Stevenson. I have followed her career this year quite intently after seeing an article about both of her parents being diagnosed with critical illness and both have since sadly passed away. Yet amongst all of this unimaginable pain the Doncaster girl went and claimed Tae-Kwon Do world gold. An unbelievable feat considering the year she had. That shows personality, sporting prowess, and character which proves she is a real contender for gold in London. Not only should she be on the SPOTY shortlist, she should be up there with the favourites to possibly win it.
Women in sport really don’t get the exposure they deserve and if you do read this and don’t recognise some of the names definitely go check out them out online and find out a little about them; some incredible athletes who deserve a little recognition. However it does have to be noted that until I started thinking about this topic, doing a little research and admittedly opening my eyes a touch a lot of these woman weren’t on my radar. That may not necessarily be my fault. The coverage women’s sport gets is rather embarrassing, considering the talent of these ladies however we should hopefully be seeing a lot more of them either at the Olympics or in their regular sports next year. I do however doubt it.
As much as this list is a good reflection of women in 2011 I dont believe that women been in the SPOTY list based on gender would have been sexism in itself.
ReplyDeleteOne reason I think that women dont have the backing in sport is that even women sport spectators seem to prefer the male forms, afterall globally there.is more women that men so in theory there's no reason it shouldn't be as big (I accept there are problems in less.developed countries regarding womens rights), if not bigger due to the potential audience size.
I see what your saying, and yes its true that whilst female participation in sport seems to be going down, more and more women seem to enjoy watching Football, Rugby, F1 etc.
ReplyDeleteI also would never want men or women thrown into the SPOTY list simply to to make it 'politically correct' if the 10 best sportspeople in the UK this year were British I would happily agree, however I think a few on this list ... Stevenson, Wellington and Adlington are probably deserving of the list and just wonder about the voting system. I mean lads mags such as Zoo and Nuts get votes. Not to mention only 10 per cent of sports journalists are women. You are right though I am not sure if this is a case of lynch mobbing, I dont women on my sports list thinking. Its much more likely to be a case of a lack of exposure.
* ... in the uk this year were British MEN I would happily agree ....
ReplyDeleteLesson 1: Proof read your comments ha
I do agree but I think another reason females lack nominations is because of the sports they're involved in. Other than a few exceptions (Zara Phillips) in the past usually nominees aren't in more esoteric sports and especially when it's not an Olympic year.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the types of sports included in the list should be under scrutiny, not gender.
Yeah I think it may of helped that Zara Phillips is part of quite a famous family :/! I suppose with the word personality comes a question of are these sports in the public interest. Ironman, open water swimming and tae kwon do are admittedly not at the top of most sport pages news feeds, and maybe if some of these women can win gold at London 2012 they will undoubtedly be in that list thanks to added exposure. It becomes a worry for me though when the only way a woman gets noticed in sport is by going on Question of Sport or by being 'sexy' if people still use that word. It seems they do get sexified in the press, many woman say its the only way they get exposure, I mean Kournikova, Sharapova, Pendleton ... or maybe I am too much of a cynic. It happens to the guys as well so in that respect its an erroneous argument. I will however be keeping an eye on Chrissy Wellington a little bit more, her Ironman record is truely unbelievable!
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