Team GB cyclist BRADLEY WIGGINS was voted the 2012 BBC Sports Personality of the Year during a ceremony attended by nearly 16,000 at London's ExCel Centre Sunday night, according to the BBC. The Tour de France and Olympic time trial champion "beat 11 other contenders to the prestigious title." Wiggins became the first Briton to win the Tour, following that with a Gold Medal at the London Games. Olympic heptathlon champion JESSICA ENNIS was runner-up while U.S. Open winner ANDY MURRAY was third (BBC, 12/16). In London, Ian Chadband noted Wiggins "has fittingly won his last great race of 2012." Wiggins became "a true original of Britain’s sporting life, who was being given the ultimate reward for most successfully capturing the nation’s heart, not just through strength of achievement but also through strength of personality" (TELEGRAPH, 12/16). Also in London, James Riach noted former LOCOG Chair SEBASTIAN COE was presented with a lifetime achievement award for his role in bringing the Olympics and Paralympics to London, his part in the successful staging of the London Games and for his career as a middle-distance runner. The ceremony was "dominated by the endeavours of the Olympians and Paralympians who contributed to Britain's most successful Games." Presenters GARY LINEKER, SUE BARKER and CLARE BALDING gave out eight awards on a night when memories of the 65 Olympic and 120 Paralympic medals were "emotionally recalled" (GUARDIAN, 12/16).
