Sports Personality of the Year

OF THE YEAR 2019 REVIEW

Written by Ollie McManus Designed by Shannon Moore

After another year of great success for British sport, we take a look at the big SPOTY winners of 2019. Sports Personality of the Year 2019 came to us from Aberdeen for a celebration of exceptional accomplishments. The 64 th Edition saw six sportspeople nominated for the eponymous award: Dina Asher-Smith, Lewis Hamilton, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Raheem Sterling, Ben Stokes and Alun Wyn Jones.

Asher-Smith and JohnsonThompson were nominated for their achievements in athletics, after winning golds in the World Championship in the 200m and Hepathlon respectively. Hamilton made the shortlist once again thanks to securing his sixth F1 Championship title, whilst Jones was recognised for captaining Wales to another Six Nations Grand Slam victory.

Sterling was nominated not only for his integral role in Manchester City’s treblewinning campaign, but also for how he has spoken out against racism in football.

But it was cricketing allrounder Ben Stokes who swept the main gong thanks to his performances during an incredible summer for English cricket. The 28 year-old was a pivotal part of the squad that won the Cricket World Cup in July; he then blasted 135 not out to secure a remarkable onewicket win over Australia in the third Ashes test.

And it was the England Cricket that won Team of the Year with a performance befitting Oasis. A champagne super over was on hand to see them crowned victory in the 2019 ICC World Cup final. A nail-biting contest against New Zealand ended even-stevens after 100 overs, as did the super over, with England winning on the boundary count back rule. Talk about tense.

Marathon man Eliud Kipchoge epitomised human advancement when he became BEN STOKES

the first person to run a marathon under two hours. The INEOS 1:59 Challenge saw Kipchoge break the barrier and burn his name into athletics history books.

Baroness Tanni GreyThompson was awarded the Lifetime Achievement in recognition of her 16 Paralympic medals and 30 world records. The Welsh athlete competed at distances from 100m to 800m and retired in 2007.

John Blackie, meanwhile, won Coach of the Year having guided Dina Asher-Smith to 200m gold in the IAAF Athletics World C h a m p i o n s h i p s . Blackie has trained AsherSmith since she was eight. N

Altior

VS

Cyrname

RACING’S NEWEST, BIGGEST RIVALRY

Written by Toby Foster Designed by Shannon Moore

If the first encounter of horse racing’s newest rivalry is anything to go by, sporting historians may soon be adding it to their ‘best ever’ compilations - right alongside the time-honoured duels of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston, and, of course, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. At no point in the last decade has the jumps racing world more excitedly anticipated a contest than when Nicky Henderson’s undefeated titan Altior and Paul Nicholls’ mercurial challenger Cyrname cantered down to the starting post on a cold November afternoon for the 2.05 at Ascot.

Though £40,000 was on offer for the winner, this was an always occasion where pride would matter far more than prize money.

Altior, the horse whose name means ‘higher’ in Latin, could not have done more to live up to that moniker over the past four years.

Unbeaten over fences, he has racked up an astonishing 19 victories in his career, including twice winning the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival – the holy grail for two-mile chasers.

The phrase ‘greatest of all time’ is banded about in sport with such reckless abandon these days that it has become almost meaningless, but it’s no exaggeration to say that Altior has a claim to be on the shortlist when racehorse ‘GOATs’ are discussed.

Yet when rival Cyrname announced himself to the racing world back in February by obliterating a select field of first-class contenders by seventeen lengths at Ascot, it left him uniquely placed to attempt the taking of the sport’s biggest scalp.

The ‘Christy’s 1965 Chase’, over 17 fences and across 2.5 miles of Ascot turf, was set as the stage where Altior would face, in Cyrname, his toughest test. Feverish and frenzied media build-up was similar to that of a heavyweight boxing bout, with hundreds of broadcast minutes and column inches dedicated to the arguments between passionate advocates for both horses.

IT'S no exaggeration TO SAY THAT ALTIOR HAS A CLAIM TO BE THE greatest of all time

One of racing’s best sporting qualities is its ability to provide conclusive answers to questions just like ‘Altior or Cyrname?’. Unlike football or boxing, there are no frustrating draws. The first two miles of the momentous race developed exactly as had been anticipated. Cyrname, always a horse who likes to get on with things, bounded along merrily in front, with the undeterred Altior scampering close behind, ever threatening.

But as the two titans entered the home strait, Cyrname showed no signs of dimming enthusiasm. Getting past him

CYRNAME WAS uniquely placed TO ATTEMPT THE TAKING OF THE SPORT’S biggest scalp

in the final few furlongs would require a Herculean effort.

Altior’s jockey Nico De Boinville realised that, for the first time in his horse’s career, all the gears had already been gone through and there were no thrusters left to engage.

Cyrname, crossing the line two lengths clear of Altior with an air of pomp and majesty, had well and truly lived up to his hype – and a new King of Steeplechasing was anointed. Five minutes of applause and congratulations later, the next question for racing fans had already been posed: ‘When’s the rematch?’ N