{"id":298938,"date":"2023-12-12T15:56:31","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T15:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/?p=298938"},"modified":"2023-12-12T15:56:31","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T15:56:31","slug":"mary-earps-is-the-bookies-favourite-to-win-bbc-spoty-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/soccer\/mary-earps-is-the-bookies-favourite-to-win-bbc-spoty-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Mary Earps is the bookies' favourite to win BBC SPOTY award"},"content":{"rendered":"
Mary Earps is the frontrunner to be crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year next week after being named on the six-person shortlist.<\/p>\n
The England goalkeeper, 30, is the odds-on bookies\u2019 favourite to become the second straight Lioness to land the coveted award following Beth Mead\u2019s triumph last year.<\/p>\n
Earps, who starred as Sarina Wiegman\u2019s side reached the Women\u2019s World Cup final in August, faces competition from Ashes hero Stuart Broad and world heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson.<\/p>\n
Veteran jockey Frankie Dettori, Europe\u2019s Ryder Cup talisman Rory McIlroy and wheelchair tennis No1 Alfie Hewett are also nominated, but there is no place for world 1500 metres gold medallist Josh Kerr.<\/p>\n
The sportsperson who tops the public vote on December 19 will become the 70th winner of SPOTY.<\/p>\n
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Mary Earps is the favourite to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year<\/p>\n
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The England goalkeeper won the Golden Glove at the Women’s World Cup but couldn’t prevent the Lionesses from losing the final to Spain<\/p>\n
Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n
If it is Earps, it would be the third successive year a woman has been victorious following Emma Raducanu in 2021 and then Mead, after 15 years of male dominance before that.<\/p>\n
Earps won the Golden Glove at the World Cup after keeping three clean sheets for England on their way to an historic first final. She also saved a penalty in the Lionesses\u2019 heartbreaking 1-0 defeat to Spain in Sydney.<\/p>\n
Of the other candidates, Broad was England\u2019s top bowler in this summer\u2019s amazing Ashes battle, taking the final wicket of the fifth Test against Australia to level the series 2-2 after announcing his retirement during that match.<\/p>\n
Johnson-Thompson claimed her second world heptathlon title in Budapest in August, bouncing back from the injuries which blighted her career following her first global gold in 2019.<\/p>\n
Dettori secured a host of big wins in his final year of racing in the UK at the age of 52, including victories in two Classics – the 2000 Guineas and the Oaks.<\/p>\n
McIlroy was the top point scorer as Europe beat USA in the Ryder Cup in Rome, earning four points out of a possible five after only claiming one in a record defeat two years ago.<\/p>\n
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Stuart Broad is also in contention after bringing down the curtain on his Test cricket career with a superb Ashes series in the summer\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Rory McIlroy was nominated after leading Team Europe to win the Ryder Cup in Rome<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Katarina Johnson-Thompson\u00a0claimed her second world heptathlon title in Budapest in August<\/p>\n
Odds courtesy of Sky Bet and accurate at the time of writing\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, Hewett won five Grand Slam wheelchair tennis titles \u2013 two singles and three doubles \u2013 this year, which he ended as world No1. He could become the first para sports star to be named SPOTY in the show\u2019s 70-year history.<\/p>\n The most notable omission on the six-person shortlist is middle-distance runner Kerr after he stunned Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen to win 1500m gold in Budapest.<\/p>\n His victory emulated the 2022 achievement of his British team-mate Jake Wightman, who was nominated for SPOTY last year.<\/p>\n Snooker great Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan, who won a record-extending eighth UK Championship title earlier this month, had also been backed in recent days, as had England and Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham after a stunning start to his first season in Spain.<\/p>\n According to the BBC\u2019s criteria for the award, the winner should be \u2018the sportsperson whose sporting actions have most captured the UK public\u2019s imagination during 2023\u2019.<\/p>\n An industry panel were asked to select a shortlist that \u2018reflects UK sporting achievement, represents the breadth and depth of UK sports and takes into account impact of the person\u2019s sporting achievement beyond the sport in question\u2019.<\/p>\n It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n\n
IT’S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n