TheBBC World Sport Star of the Year (formerly known as theBBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year[1][2]) is an award presented at the annualBBC Sports Personality of the Year award ceremony. The award is presented to a non-British sportsperson considered to have made the most substantial contribution to a sport in that year.
The Overseas Personality award was first presented in 1960, six years after the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award was introduced. The first recipient of the award was Australianmiddle distance runnerHerb Elliott.[3] Since then, the award has been presented to 53 sportspersons. Swiss tennis playerRoger Federer has won the award four times. American boxerMuhammad Ali and JamaicansprinterUsain Bolt have both won the award three times.[4] The award has been shared on three occasions—byRon Clarke andGary Player in 1965,Eusébio andGarfield Sobers in 1966, andEvander Holyfield andMichael Johnson in 1996.[5] The husband-and-wife skating duo ofOleg Protopopov andLudmila Belousova are the only pair to have won the award, doing so in 1968.[6] Belousova was the first woman to become Overseas Personality—she was also the oldest, aged 33.George Moore is the oldest recipient of the award, winning in 1967 aged 44. The youngest recipient of the award isNadia Comăneci, who won in 1976 at age 15.Boris Becker, who was 18 when he won in 1985, is the youngest male to have won.[5]
Twenty-seven countries have been represented by the award winners as of 2024. United States sportspersons have won the award the most times, having had nineteen recipients, two of whom shared the award. Another US-born sportsperson received the award while representing Sweden. Three cricketers have received the award --Garfield Sobers of Barbados,Brian Lara of Trinidad and Tobago (both of whom played for theWest Indies cricket team), andShane Warne of Australia.[7][8] Fourteen sporting disciplines have been represented; tennis has the highest representation, with fifteen recipients.
Only one winner has ever been stripped of the award – US cyclistLance Armstrong, whose 2003 award was rescinded following the UCI's 2012 decision to strip him of his titles and ban him for life from the sport.[9]
In 2018, the award was renamed BBC World Sport Star of the Year. Along with the change of name, votes could be cast from outside of the UK for the first time.[2]
The award was decided by a panel of over 30 sporting journalists. Each panellist voted for their top two choices; their first preference was awarded two points, and their second preference was awarded one point. The winning sportsperson had the most total points. In the case of a points tie, the sportsperson chosen as first preference by the most panellists is the winner. If this is also a tie the award is shared.[10] In 2015 the public voted for this award.
Roger Federer received the award a record four timesHerb Elliott, the first recipientPelé received the award in 1970 after winning a record third FIFA World Cup
^2024 recipient Armand Duplantis was born in the United States to an American father and Swedish mother. He holds citizenship in both countries and represents Sweden.
1961 recipient Valeriy Brumel, and 1968 recipients Oleg Protopopov and Ludmila Belousova, were born in what is now Russia, and represented the Soviet Union.
1972 recipient Olga Korbut was born in what is now Belarus, and also represented the Soviet Union.
2020 recipient Khabib Nurmagomedov was born in what is now Russia. He became a citizen of Russia upon the collapse of the Soviet Union during his early childhood.
^Of the recipients born in the former Czechoslovakia:
1987 recipient Martina Navratilova was born in what is now the Czech Republic. She fled to the US at age 18, and held only United States citizenship at the time of her award.
1997 recipient Martina Hingis was born in what is now Slovakia. She moved to Switzerland at age 7.
^One of Portugal's recipients, 1966 co-winner Eusébio, was born in Mozambique while it was still a Portuguese colony. He moved to mainland Portugal in his childhood.
2001 recipient Goran Ivanišević was born in what is now Croatia, and became a Croatian citizen upon the country's independence from Yugoslavia.
2011 recipient Novak Djokovic was born in what is now Serbia, which became a completely separate country in the years after the breakup of Yugoslavia.
^2023 recipient Erling Haaland was born in the United Kingdom, where hisNorwegian father was playing professional football. He holds citizenship in both countries and represents Norway.
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United States
Australia
Soviet Union
Switzerland
Germany
Jamaica
Brazil
Czechoslovakia
New Zealand
Portugal
Spain
Yugoslavia
Argentina
Austria
Barbados
Canada
Ethiopia
France
Ireland
Italy
Kenya
Romania
South Africa
Sweden
Trinidad and Tobago
United Kingdom
