Nominations for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year are due to be published at the end of November.
Last year’s winner Andy Murray is tipped by bookmakers to win the sporting accolade for a third time. The award ceremony will be broadcast live from the Genting Arena in Birmingham on Sunday, December 18, where the winner will be decided by public vote on the night.
The trophy itself is the original, first presented in 1954 to middle and long distance runner, Christopher Chataway, who won more postal votes than Roger Bannister.
Designed in the shape of a television camera (known as a ‘four turret lens camera) attached to a tripod, the trophy sits on a wooden plinth around which individual shields are fixed, engraved with each recipient’s name. Silver plated, it cost approximately £1,000 when it was first created.
As the award is now in its 63rd year, two extra plinths have had to be added to accommodate all the winners’ names. The addition of extra plinths and individually engraved shields may make this design more practical, and is the sort of addition that can feature on glass or crystal awards.
Each winner keeps the trophy for eight or nine months before handing it back to the organisers. The winners of seven other categories each receive a smaller version of the main trophy.
Past recipients have included Stirling Moss, Princess Anne, Sebastian Coe, Torville and Dean, and David Beckham.
