What the World is Looking for

The 2009 BBC Sports Personality Of The Year awards kicks off another round of end-of-year accolades for top UK athletes, this year held at the Sheffield Arena beginning 1900 GMT on Sunday, December 13, 2009.

The awards show, touted on one of the biggest in SPOTY history, was the hottest ticket in the world of British sport as 11,000 fans packed the Sheffield Arena for the annual event.

This year, Sue Barker and Gary Lineker were back at the helm alongside Jake Humphrey for the 2-hour presentation, which was covered live on BBC One, BBC Radio 5 Live, and the BBC Sport website.

Sports Personality Contenders 2009

Top10 SPOTY contenders were announced during The One Show on BBC One on Monday, November 30. Leading contenders this year included Formula One winner Jenson Button, world heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis, Olympic diver Tom Daley, and boxer David Haye.

Other 2009 Sports Personality contenders included gymnast Beth Tweddle, tennis great Andy Murray, footballer Ryan Giggs, triple jump champion Phillips Idowu, and cricketer Andrew Strauss.

And the winner is...

Manchester United footballer Ryan Giggs was named the BBC Sport Personality of the Year for 2009 in a surprising finale that saw the dark horse contender beat out favorited Formula 1 champ Jensen Button (who came in second) and world heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis (who secured the third spot) to take the top prize.