BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award

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Oscar Pistorius, who won the award in 2007

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award^[1] is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given "for outstanding achievement in the face of adversity", and the winner is selected by BBC Sport.^[2] The award is named after the BBC sports presenter Helen Rollason, who died in August 1999 at the age of 43 after suffering from cancer for two years.^[3][4] Helen Rollason was the first female presenter of Grandstand. After being diagnosed with cancer, she helped raise over £5 million to set up a cancer wing at the North Middlesex Hospital, where she received most of her treatment.^[5]

The inaugural recipient of the award was horse trainer Jenny Pitman, in 1999. Since then, nine of the ten winners have been British; the exception is South African Paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius, who won the award in 2007. Two recipients have not played a sport professionally: Jane Tomlinson, who won in 2002, and Kirsty Howard, who received the award in 2004. Michael Watson, who won the award in 2003, had a career in boxing but was paralysed and almost killed in a title bout with Chris Eubank. He won the award for completing the London Marathon, an accomplishment that took him six days.^[6] Former footballer Geoff Thomas won the award in 2005; he raised money by cycling the 2,200 miles of the 2005 Tour de France course in the same number of days as the professionals completed it.^[7] In 2006, the award was given posthumously to Paul Hunter, who died from dozens of malignant neuroendocrine tumours – his widow Lindsay accepted the award on his behalf.^[8] The most recent award was presented in 2008 to Alastair Hignell for raising awareness of multiple sclerosis. Hignell had played first-class cricket for Gloucestershire from 1974 to 1983 and made his international debut for the England national rugby union team in 1975.^[9]

Contents 1 By year 2 By nationality 3 By sport 4 Notes 5 References

[edit] By year

Year	Nat.	Winner	Sport(s)	Rationale	Note
1999	ENG	Pitman, JennyJenny Pitman	Horse racing	for "one of national hunt's greatest trainers" who retired earlier in 1999 after suffering from cancer.[10]	[11]
2000	WAL	Grey-Thompson, TanniTanni Grey-Thompson	Athletics	for winning "gold in the 100 m, 200 m, 400 m and 800 m events" at the 2000 Summer Paralympics.[12]	[13]
2001	ENG	MacArthur, EllenEllen MacArthur	Sailing	for her courage in becoming fastest woman to circumnavigate the globe.[14]	[15]
2002	ENG	Tomlinson, JaneJane Tomlinson	—[n 1]	for completing "the London Marathon, a triathlon and the Great North Run" and raising money for Cancer Research, after being diagnosed with breast cancer.[16]	[17]
2003	ENG	Watson, MichaelMichael Watson	Boxing	for completing the London Marathon and "raising millions of pounds for the Brain and Spine Foundation", despite being told previously that "he would never walk again".[18]	[19]
2004	ENG	Howard, KirstyKirsty Howard	—[n 2]	for raising money for poorly children in Francis House hospice through Kirsty's Appeal, despite having an inoperable heart condition.[20]	[21]
2005	ENG	Thomas, GeoffGeoff Thomas	Football	for raising "more than £150,000 for the Leukaemia Research charity" by cycling, following his own battle with the disease.[22]	[23]
2006	ENG	Hunter, PaulPaul Hunter	Snooker	awarded posthumously "in recognition of his bravery and determination to continue playing while trying to beat [cancer]."[24]	[25]
2007	RSA	Pistorius, OscarOscar Pistorius	Athletics	for his fight to be allowed to "race in both the Olympics and the Paralympics" in 2008.[26]	[27]
2008	ENG	Hignell, AlastairAlastair Hignell	Cricket, Rugby union	for fundraising and raising awareness of multiple sclerosis since being diagnosed with the disease in 1999.[28]	[29]

[edit] By nationality

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

Nationality	Number of wins
England	8
South Africa	1
Wales	1

[edit] By sport

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

Sporting profession	Number of wins[n 3]
Athletics	2
Boxing	1
Football	1
Horse racing	1
Sailing	1
Cricket	0.5 ½
Rugby union	0.5 ½
None	2

[edit] Notes

• ^{n 1}  Jane Tomlinson was an amateur athlete who competed in marathons, and triathlons – these represent sporting disciplines of athletics, swimming, and cycling.
• ^{n 2}  Kirsty Howard was the mascot accompanying David Beckham for the FIFA World Cup qualifier against Greece, and later became the final carrier in the Queen's Baton Relay for the 2002 Commonwealth Games.^[30]
• ^{n 3}  The fractions refer to Alastair Hignell, who played both cricket and rugby union at a professional level.

[edit] References

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