Ohuruogu is cool about BBC Sports Personality snub

IN many years Christine Ohuruogu would have expected to be looking forward to this weekend's BBC Sports Personality awards as a hot favourite.

NO SNUB: Not a favourite but Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu plans to enjoy Sports Personality awards

400m-world champion last year and an Olympic champion this; Ohuruogu should be the star of the show.

But last year she didn't even make the top three and bookmakers make her a 500/1 outsider to win on Sunday - the same odds you'll get on Everton winning the Premiership.

It's true the achievements of others have stood out in a competitive year but Ohuruogu's 12-month competition ban, after she missed three random drugs tests, has certainly dropped her a few places on the public popularity poll.

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However, the 24 year-old has vowed to still get dressed up and enjoy the night.

"I think what makes the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards so special is it is an award that is voted by the people and I think means the most to the British people," she said.

"It is a programme I always watched when I was young and I remember seeing great names from our sport like Sally Gunnell, Denise Lewis and Colin Jackson in contention.

"To be in the list of nominees for the award is a massive honour for me. It really has been a very special year with so much success to celebrate across the whole of British sport.

"People like Lewis Hamilton and Joe Calzaghe are phenomenal sportsmen and the best in the world at what they do and I hope it is a close competition between all the nominees."

While her ban will forever cast a shadow on her career, Ohuruogu claims to have been touched by the support she has received since returning from Beijing.

"One of the best parts of the whole Olympic experience was the support of the British people and the reaction since Beijing," she added.

"All the people - young and old - who I bump into on a daily basis in the street who are so genuinely thrilled for me that really brings home what it meant to people."

Ohuruogu will start her campaign for next year's World Championships in Berlin by competing over 60m and 200m at the Aviva Grand Prix at the National Indoor Arena on February 21.

Although she is unlikely to compete at the European Indoor Championships in Turin, she claims an indoor season will lay the ideal groundwork to the trials of her summer programme.

"I really enjoyed my indoor races at this year's Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham - they got my Olympic year up and running and I was able to maintain things all the way through the year to when it really mattered in Beijing," she added.

"So it made sense to do the same again next year. These domestic meetings are vital parts of the preparation for major championships and will again be stepping stones towards the Worlds in Berlin later next year."

Tickets for the Aviva Grand Prix at the NIA, Birmingham on Saturday 21st February are available by phone on 08000 556 056 or online at www.ukathletics.net