The 2011 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, presented on 22 December, was the 58th presentation of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards. Sue Barker, Jake Humphrey, and Gary Lineker all returned to present the awards from dock10 studios in Salfordon BBC One. Awarded annually by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the main titular award honours an individual's British sporting achievement over the past year, with the winner selected by public vote from a 10-person shortlist. Other awards presented include team, coach, and young personality of the year.
Mark Cavendish son the main award, with Darren Clarke the runner-up and Mo Farah in third place.
Award process
The shortlist of ten sportspeople, which was drawn up by "a range of sports experts from newspapers and magazines across the UK", was announced on 29 November 2011. The shortlist was widely criticised for its lack of any female competitors. On 14 December, the British Olympic Association said that they were considering a boycott of the award ceremony in protest. The BOA chief executive, Andy Hunt, said that he would have included swimmers Keri-Anne Payne and Rebecca Adlington, rower Katherine Grainger, and England women's cricket captain, Charlotte Edwards, in his top 10. The BBC said that it would review the nomination procedure for the 2012 awards.
The award ceremony was held on Thursday 22 December at the dock10 in Salford, and was broadcast live on BBC One.
Nominees
The ten nominees saw three nominees from the world of golf, two each from the worlds of athletics, and cricket, and one each from boxing,cycling, and tennis.
Mark Cavendish won the award with 49.47% of the vote. Darren Clarke was the runner-up with 12.34%, and Mo Farah took third place with 8.71% of the vote. Cavendish was the third cyclist to win the award after Tom Simpson in 1965, and Sir Chris Hoy in 2008. Additionally, Cavendish became the first winner from the Isle of Man. Clarke had been runner-up in 2006, a feat he managed to repeated this time around. The last golfer to win the award was Sir Nick Faldo in 1989. Farah's fellow athlete Jessica Ennis finished third in the previous two competitions, whilst Dame Kelly Holmes was the last track and field athlete to win the award.
Sir Bobby Charlton and Baroness Grey-Thompson presented the awards.
Other awards
In addition to the main award as "Sports Personality of the Year", several other awards were also announced:
Team of the Year: England cricket team
Coach of the Year: Andy Flower
Overseas Personality: Novak Djokovic
Young Personality: Lauren Taylor (Golf) Unsung Hero Award: Janice Eaglesham and Ian Mirfin (Athletics coaches) Lifetime Achievement: Sir Steve Redgrave Helen Rollason Award: Bob Champion