2008 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award

The 2008 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, held on 14 December at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, was the 55th presentation of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards. Presented by Sue Barker, Gary Lineker, and, for the first time, Jake Humphrey, the show was broadcast on BBC One. Awarded annually by the BBC, the main titular award honours an individual's British sporting achievement over the past year. The winner was selected by public vote from a 10-person shortlist. Other awards presented include team, coach, and young personality of the year.

Chris Hoy took home the top award of the night, with Lewis Hamilton in second place, and Rebecca Adlington in third.

Location and presenters
In February 2008, the BBC announced that year's Awards would be held in Liverpool's Echo Arena on Sunday 14th December that year. The move from Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre would allow more people to attend the event, the BBC said. The move also coincided with Liverpool becoming the European Capital of Culture.

Sue Barker, who had presented the awards since 1994, returned, as did Gary Lineker to present his ninth edition of the awards. They were joined by Jake Humphrey, who replaced Adrian Chiles as the third presenter. Humphrey had covered the 2008 Beijing Olympics for the BBC, as well as presenting football and American Football for the corporation.

Winner and nominees
The ten nominees featured four from the world of cycling, and one each from athletics, boxing, Formula One, sailing, swimming, and tennis.

Chris Hoy was named the winner at the climax of the show, with 29.48% of the public vote. Lewis Hamilton was the runner-up with 22.81% of the vote, followed by Rebecca Adlington with 20.31% of the vote. Hoy became the second cyclist to win the award, after Tom Simpson won in 1965. Cyclist Beryl Burton was the runner-up in 1967. Hoy was also the fourth Scottish person to win the award, after Ian Black, Jackie Stewart, and Liz McColgan. The last Scottish person to reach the top three was Colin McRae in 1995. Hamilton had finished second in the previous year, whilst Adlington was the first swimmer since Adrian Moorhouse in 1988 to reach the top three.

Hoy was presented the trophy by Sir Steve Redgrave and Michael Johnson.

Young Sports Personality of the Year
The first award of the night, the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year was presented by Ricky Hatton and former winner Theo Walcott.

The shortlist of three was whittled down from a longlist of ten, which also included canoeist Thomas Brady, taekwondo athlete Aaron Cook, cyclist Sam Harrison, sailor James Peters, motorcyclist Scott Redding, swimmer Lizzie Simmonds, and sprinter Shaunna Thompson. The panel deciding the shortlist was chaired by BBC broadcaster John Inverdale, with presenter Jake Humphrey, former winners Harry Aikines-Aryeetey and Kate Haywood, and representatives from CBBC and the Youth Sports Trust on the panel.

Helen Rollason Award
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award is given “for outstanding achievement in the face of adversity”. The award was given to Alastair Hignell. He had played rugby union for England and cricket for Gloucestershire before becoming a commentator for the BBC on rugby union. Hignell was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999 and was heavily involved in fundraising to battle the condition. The award was presented by Sir Clive Woodward, with Lawrence Dallaglio paying tribute on the show.

Unsung Hero Award
The BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award is given to someone who is unrecognised but gives a valuable contribution to their local community. A winner is chosen by each of the twelve BBC English Regions and three nations - BBC Northern Ireland, BBC Scotland, and BBC Wales. Then the eventual winner is chosen from the fifteen regional winners. The 2008 award was given to Ben Geyser, a seventy year-old boxing coach and fundraiser from Dorchester. Geyser was the BBC South winner and had set up three boxing clubs throughout his career. Phil Neville and Ian Rush presented the award.

Lifetime Achievement Award
The Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to Sir Bobby Charlton to recognise his fifty year career in football. Charlton was part of the 1966 World Cup winning squad and led the 1968 Manchester United team to 1968 European Cup glory. He received a standing ovation as he was presented the award by his brother, Jack Charlton.

Coach of the Year
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award had three nominees and was presented by Michael Vaughan and Dame Kelly Holmes.

Team of the Year
The BBC Sports Team of the Year Award had four nominees. The award was presented by Alan Hansen and Alan Shearer and was received by Victoria Pendleton.

Overseas Personality Award
The BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year Award is given to someone from outside the UK. Three people were nominated for the award, with it being collected over videolink.