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BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2024 – Who is the favourite?
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award 2024 is fast approaching, with this year’s winner set to be crowned on December 17th.
The list of those in contention for the award has been whittled down and we take you through all six of the remaining contenders below.
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Keely Hodgkinson – 2/7
The long-time odds-on favourite for this year’s award has been Team GB athlete Keely Hodgkinson. The 800m specialist struck gold in Paris back in August, ending her wait for a global title. She was dominant in the final, recording a time of one minute and 56 seconds, which capped off a historical year on the track for her.
She was victorious earlier in the year when retaining her European title, battling through illness to see her competitors off.
She has been a strong favourite for SPOTY 2024 ever since she crossed the line in Paris, and she makes a very strong case for the award. Track athletes hold over double the number of wins of the award than any other sport, as well as gold medallists historically having an increased chance of winning the award for that year. She is a worthy favourite and is undoubtedly the one to beat.
Luke Littler – 12/5
Hodgkinson’s main market rival is Luke Littler. Undoubtedly, the break-out British sports star of 2024, Littler has taken the darts world by storm and is now just 12/5 to become the first darts player to ever win the Sports Personality of the Year award.
It all began for him in last year’s PDC World Darts Championship, where he reached the final in his debut year before just falling short to Luke Humphries. It was a brilliant run that saw him knock out previous world champions Raymond van Barneveld and Rob Cross on his way to the final.
His year since has proved his talent as one of the world’s best as he scooped the Premier League and the Grand Slam of Darts, as well as several ranking events. He is the 2/1 favourite for this year’s PDC World Championships.
The remaining contenders
It’s hard to see past Hodgkinson and Littler winning this year’s award but there are four other contenders who have been shortlisted. The first of these is Joe Root (66/1). The England cricketer secured the all-time runs record for England, a historical record for one of the country’s best cricketers.
He is joint in the market at 66/1 with fellow athlete of Hodgkinson, Alex Yee. Yee produced one of the sporting moments of the summer when clinching gold in the triathlon. It was a dramatic finish to the race which saw him overhaul competitor Hayden Wilde to win in Paris.
Making up the market are two 150/1 shots in Sarah Storey and Jude Bellingham. Storey won two Paralympic gold medals in her ninth appearance at the games, the most of any British athlete.
Jude Bellingham shot to global stardom in becoming the frontman for Real Madrid and England, winning a Champions League for Madrid and just falling short of leading England to a historic Euros victory. He scored a stunning overhead kick to keep the nation in the competition which saw him temporarily cut to favourite for the award back in June!
