Rory McIlroy’s fans expected that he would be crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year in Glasgow last night but it was not to be.
The public vote produced an overwhelming majority in favour of Formula 1 Champion Lewis Hamilton with McIlroy second just ahead of athlete Jo Pavey.
The BBC released details afterwards of the public vote which went as follows:
- Lewis Hamilton – 209,920
- Rory McIlroy – 123,745
- Jo Pavey – 99.913
- Charlotte Dujardin – 75,814
- Kerrie Gallagher and Charlotte Evans – 35,871
- Lizzie Yarnold – 23,188
- Ben Whitlock – 17,219
- Gareth Bale – 13,747
- Carl Froch – 11,616
- Tim Peaty – 9,899
Social media had something of a meltdown in the immediate aftermath but this is a public vote and there is no getting away from the fact that the result was pretty clear in terms of the public affection for both men at the top of the list.
There was better news for Ireland earlier in the evening when Paul McGinley was named the Coach of the Year in a vote that did not go to the public call.
The first Irishman ever to lead the European Ryder Cup team to victory was a popular winner in front of the 12,000 strong crowd at the SSE Hydro Arena in Glasgow. It will be a more intimate gathering when he joins members of the Sport for Business community on January 8th as the keynote speaker at the Business of Sports Science as part of the 51st BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition at the RDS.
