Women world champions snubbed by BBC SPOTY shortlist

WHAT do swimmers Rebecca Adlington and Keri-Anne Payne, triathlete Helen Jenkins, rowers Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins and taekwondo's Sarah Stevenson have in common? All have won world titles in Olympic events this year and all are conspicuous by their absence from the BBC's sports personality of the year shortlist.

SNUBBED: Keri-Anne Payne became the first British athlete to guarantee her Olympic selection when she retained her world open water swim title in Shanghai. But she is not shortlisted - nor is any woman - for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award (Getty Images)

When it comes to recognising sporting success, the BBC's long-running award remains the most prized but not a single woman features on this year's ten strong list of contenders, the first time this has happened since rules were changed in 2006 and sports editors were canvassed on their opinions - an attempt by the BBC to stop concerted efforts from the strangely powerful angling lobby to get Bob Nudd, the four-time world fishing champion, recognised.

It's interesting to note that among the 27 newspaper and magazines canvassed for their views not one boasts a woman sports editor - some don't even have a single woman sports journalist on their staffs.

Nuts and Zoo magazines - whose tried and trusted content mix tends to swerve towards topless girls and glamour models, rather than serious sports reporting - both, inexplicably, get votes. 

I find it slightly surprising that there is not a single woman on the shortlist." London 2012 chairman Seb Coe

The Manchester Evening News clearly didn't read the rules and took a distinctly parochial stance to their suggestions - naming an all Manchester-based shortlist that included names not even eligible for consideration because of their nationality, such as Dimitar Berbatov, Yaya Toure and Patrick Vieira.

But at least they had Stockport-based Payne, who retained her world open water swimming title in Shanghai and will look to upgrade her Olympic silver next year, in their selections.

Overall, it's hard to argue with Dame Tanni Grey Thompson, the 11-time Paralympic champion, when she claims women's sport is too often denied the oxygen of publicity it needs to survive.

Examples of the England's women's hockey team, who have a sponsor while their male counterparts do not, are as rare as a fully clothed reality TV star on the pages of Zoo and Nuts.

BBC 2011 SPOTY SHORTLIST AND ODDS Mark Cavendish - 11/10 Darren Clarke - 15/8 Mo Farah - 8/1 Rory McIlroy - 9/1 Luke Donald - 33/1 Alistair Cook - 50/1 Amir Khan - 100/1 Andrew Strauss - 100/1 Dai Green - 100/1 Andy Murray - 100/1  www.oddschecker.com

"Only two per cent of media coverage in sport goes to women," said Dame Tanni.

"Women just aren't on the minds, whether it's editors or in some case producers, it's just not there. You're fighting against the system all the time where it's the big sports all the time that get the recognition."

Triathlete Chrissie Wellington could certainly teach these editors a thing or two about sport - having recently won her fourth world ironman title - that's a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and a marathon, which she completes in just over eight hours.

"It's not about me, it's about the need to celebrate achievements of so many female British athletes. Disgraceful," she said.

Adlington, who loves of a chance to dress up in her favourite Christian Louboutin shoes, also admitted her disappointment at being snubbed from the big night.

"There's been some great sportswomen like Keri-Anne Payne, it's sad they are not recognised," she said. "Hopefully next year can be all women nominations after London 2012."

Next month the best in women's sport will be recognised when the Sports Journalists' Association hold their annual awards - with prizes for the best sportsman and sportswoman that date back to 1949 - five years before the BBC's SPOTY made its debut.

However, the BBC - whose determination to be trendily inclusive means they have relocated their entire sports department to Manchester on the eve of the London Olympics - must reconsider their nomination process for 2012, when - we hope - producing a shortlist of ten might prove a very difficult task.

It seems that we don't need better sportwoman but we do need better voting.

© Sportsbeat 2011

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