2022 BBC SPOTY News & Odds

With the 2022 World Cup taking place at the end of the calendar year, it’s clear that the performance of the England team will be in sharp focus around the time that the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award is handed out.

Naturally, a Three Lions victory in Qatar would put some of the leading English players in the spotlight and that includes the team captain. Harry Kane is the talisman for Gareth Southgate’s team and 2022 could be the year where the Tottenham Hotspur forward becomes the all-time leading scorer for England. Providing he stays clear of injury; you would assume he will be an automatic choice to line up at the World Cup and England are among the favourites.

The Sports Personality prize has been awarded to a tennis player on seven occasions and the latest of these triumphs came in 2021 when Emma Raducanu fended off Tom Daley and Adam Peaty to get the accolade.

The 19-year-old’s victory in the 2021 US Open swung the balance in her favour and it’s no surprise to see the Toronto-born player among the 2022 favourites at 12/1.

Raducanu, who is currently Britain's number one was the first woman from these Isles to win a major tennis championship since Virginia Wade in 1977 and it will be interesting to see if Raducanu is able to build on that success in 2022. The fact that she won the 2021 US Open without dropping a set was remarkable and further glory could be on the cards for her.

Lewis Hamilton has had success previously with this award and is bidding to win this particular piece of silverware for the third time.

We know that Formula 1 is hugely popular in the UK and that has seen the Mercedes driver win SPOTY in 2014 and 2020 already. Hamilton has experienced a difficult start to the 2022 season which suggests it might be a tall order to regain the crown that was controversially lost to Max Verstappen in 2021 and his odds on F1 betting sites reflect that.

However, bookmakers will want to keep him at fairly short prices considering that he has previously been a winner on two occasions and things can change quickly in motorsport which could allow the driver to become a front runner for the award once again.

Tyson Fury, who is 14/1, has never actually finished in the top three of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year standings and that’s partly because he’s indifferent about receiving the award. It doesn’t diminish his huge popularity when it comes to boxing, and he is a two-time world heavyweight champion – as well as the current holder of the WBC heavyweight belt.

Fury continues to be unbeaten in his career and the Gypsy King will fight Dillian Whyte in April although it remains to be seen as to whether he will clash with Anthony Joshua later in the year.

A victory against White could see the chances for the boxer vastly increase as it will be another emphatic victory in his glorious career.

Many readers will remember the 2022 Winter Olympics where the Great Britain team competed in Beijing for medals.

One of the most popular spectator sports was Curling and the British Women’s Team were able to land a gold medal after some magnificent performances in China.

The skipper of the team was Eve Muirhead, who has already been granted an MBE and the Scot could well find herself receiving plenty of SPOTY votes at the end of 2022. Much depends on whether her achievements remain standout against several other British sportsmen and sportswomen who are yet to compete this year.