December is upon us and the season to be jolly has once again kicked up the annual flurry of key questions that are begging to be answered.
Is Die Hard really a Christmas movie? Should Kevin’s parents have been punished for leaving him Home Alone not once, but twice? Which retailer produces the best festive sandwich? And who has been the most outstanding sports performer in the last 12 months?
Yes, it’s Sports Personality of the Year time again, with the BBC award due to be announced on December 19 but the usual fierce debate has been quelled somewhat by the emergence of a super tennis talent who took the world by storm in September and a look at the betting suggests the number one spot is Emma Raducanu’s to lose in just two weeks’ time.
Emma Raducanu – 1/20 to Win Sports Personality of the Year
The 19-year-old had barely been heard of prior to pitching up at Flushing Meadows in New York but the 400-1 shot was a household name by the time she left two weeks later after landing the US Open in stunning fashion.
The Bromley-based teenager became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam title and she did it in style, cruising through to the final without dropping a set, where she brushed aside fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez 6-4 6-3.
The new British number one has jumped from 150th to 19th in the world rankings and she is 7/1 to win Wimbledon next year and 13/1 to win the Australian Open, which begins at the end of January.
It’s been a phenomenal rise for Raducanu who is red-hot favourite to end the year on a high with another trophy and it would appear some of her more established contemporaries are just playing for the podium places at Media City in Salford later this month.
Tom Daley – 10/1
The British diver finally landed gold at the Tokyo Games in August, 13 years after making his Olympics debut as a 14-year-old in Beijing.
Daley had won everything else diving had to offer, including three world titles, five European championships, and several World Cups. But his previous best finish at an Olympics was 10m platform bronze at London 2012 and 10m synchro bronze at Rio 2016.
But, alongside partner Matty Lee, Daley secured gold in the 10m synchro and he is second favourite to create another huge splash by beating Raducanu to the coveted Beeb award.
Lewis Hamilton – 16/1
Hamilton is currently an outsider for the Sports Personality award but his price could plummet if he lands a record eighth Formula One world title this month.
It looks a big ask, though, as Hamilton is eight points behind Drivers Championship leader Max Verstappen with two races remaining in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.
It’s not beyond the world champion who is favourite to retain the title and should he succeed his victory will be fresh in the minds of the voting public as the final race of the season takes place just a week before the winner of SPTOY is announced.
Tyson Fury – 33/1
Boxing’s Gypsy King brought an end to his saga with Deontay Wilder by stopping the American scrapper in the 11th round of their incredible trilogy fight in October.
The pair had previously battled to a draw on the first occasion they squared off, before Fury took the Bronze Bomber’s WBC belt when stopping him in seven rounds in their second tussle.
Fury now has the keys to the boxing world and will probably face Dillian Whyte early in 2022 but a boxer hasn’t landed the award since Joe Calzaghe in 2007 and he is unlikely to deliver a knockout blow to Raducanu’s chances of Christmas glory.
Others Worth a Mention
Adam Peaty won the gold medal in the 100 metre breaststroke at the 2016 Summer Olympics and became the first British swimmer ever to retain an Olympic title by doubling up in Tokyo this summer. Perhaps his greatest achievement, though, is lasting more than a couple of weeks in Strictly Come Dancing but at 40/1 he is unlikely to back that up with anything more than a podium spot on awards night, while Mark Cavendish could be in his slipstream on December 19.
Cav equalled Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 Tour de France stage wins in the summer and is 50/1 to cross the line first in the sprint to be named Sports Personality of the Year for 2021.
*All odds correct at time of writing