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The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given to a sportsperson "who has made a major impact on the world of sport during their lifetime". The winner is selected by BBC Sport. When football manager Alex Ferguson won the award in 2001, the BBC described the award as "a new accolade" to be presented annually; however, two people had already received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The inaugural recipient of the award was Frank Bruno in 1996, who won it after his retirement from boxing that year. Bruno was the favourite to win the main award in 1995, but lost to Damon Hill, causing many to criticise his Lifetime Achievement Award as being a consolation award. Spanish golfer Seve Ballesteros won the award the following year, but after that the award was not presented for three years. The award has been presented annually since Ferguson ended the hiatus in 2001. Five of the eleven recipients have been associated with football; tennis and golf are the only other sports to have been represented more than once. Tennis player Martina Navratilova was the first woman to have won the award. The only recipient of the award on multiple occasions is Ballesteros who won in 1997 and again in 2009, for his contribution to golf winning "the Open three times, the Masters twice as well as playing an inspirational role in the Ryder Cup". The most recent winner, in 2024, was cyclist Mark Cavendish.

Winners

By year

BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award winners

Year	Nationality	Winner	Sport	Rationale	Ref.
1996	United Kingdom	Frank Bruno	Boxing	For his contributions to boxing which include winning the WBC heavyweight title.
1997	Spain	Seve Ballesteros	Golf	"In recognition of his outstanding contribution to European golf over the last 20 years."
2001	United Kingdom	Alex Ferguson	Football	For a managing career at Manchester United since 1986 which has won seven league titles and "claimed an unprecedented treble of Premiership, FA Cup and European Cup".
2002	United Kingdom	George Best	Football	"In recognition of his footballing achievements", which include being named "Footballer of the Year and European Player of the Year in 1968", and winning two championship medals and a European Cup with Manchester United.
2003	United States	Martina Navratilova	Tennis	"For a trophy-laden tennis career spanning 30 years, (...) winning a record 167 singles titles and an astonishing 329 trophies overall, 140 ahead of her nearest rival."
2004	United Kingdom	Ian Botham	Cricket	"For services to cricket" where he played 102 Tests for England in his 15-year career as an all-rounder. During that time he took 383 wickets, which was the highest number for England until 2015 (currently third on the list) and scored 5,200 runs.
2005	Brazil	Pelé	Football	For having a professional career in which "he scored 1,280 goals in 1,363 games" and "made 92 appearances for Brazil, scoring 77 goals" and winning three of the four World Cups he played in.
2006	Sweden	Björn Borg	Tennis	For "dazzl the world of tennis in the 1970s and 1980s, winning 11 Grand Slam titles" including 5 Wimbledon championships.
2007	United Kingdom	Bobby Robson	Football	For "his contributions as both player and manager in a career spanning more than half a century"
2008	United Kingdom	Bobby Charlton	Football	For achievements that include helping "England to World Cup success in 1966 and Manchester United to European Cup glory in 1968, scoring twice in the final".
2009	Spain	Seve Ballesteros	Golf	For his contributions to golf which include winning "the Open three times, the Masters twice (and) playing an inspirational role in the Ryder Cup".
2010	United Kingdom	David Beckham	Football	For his playing career as well as his roles in the London 2012 Olympic bid and his central role in attempting to bring the 2018 World Cup to England
2011	United Kingdom	Steve Redgrave	Rowing	For "his huge contribution to rowing, his long and extraordinary career, and his ongoing commitment to promoting sport in the UK"
2012	United Kingdom	Sebastian Coe	Athletics	For his role in both London's bid for, and organisation of the hosting of, the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic games.
2014	United Kingdom	Chris Hoy	Cycling	For winning six Olympic gold medals, more than any other British sportsperson in history, as well as 11 golds at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships.
2015	United Kingdom	AP McCoy	Horse racing	For an unprecedented career in horse racing, being Champion Jockey for every season of his 20-year professional career and riding over 4,300 winners – including the Grand National, two Cheltenham Gold Cups, three Champion Hurdles and the Champion Chase.
2016	United States	Michael Phelps	Swimming	For a career in which he has won 23 Olympic gold medals, 3 silver medals and 2 bronzes across 4 games, including a record breaking eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
2017	United Kingdom	Jessica Ennis-Hill	Athletics	For being one of only 12 British women to win an Olympic gold medal in athletics. Ennis-Hill is the 2012 Olympic champion, three-time world champion and 2010 European champion.
2018	United States	Billie Jean King	Tennis	For changing perceptions of what it meant to be a woman in sport following her historic victory in the Battle of the Sexes and for founding the Women's Tennis Association and the Women's Sports Foundation. Winner of 39 Grand Slam titles.
2019	United Kingdom	Tanni Grey-Thompson	Para-athletics
2021	United States	Simone Biles	Gymnastics
2022	Jamaica	Usain Bolt	Athletics
2023	United Kingdom	Kenny Dalglish	Football
2024	United Kingdom	Mark Cavendish	Cycling

By nationality

Winners by nationality

Nationality	Number of wins
United Kingdom	15
United States	4
Spain	1
Brazil	1
Sweden	1
Jamaica	1

By sport

This table lists the total number of awards won by the winners sporting profession.

References

General

• "Sports Personality of the Year: more winners". BBC. December 2007. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2008.

Specific

1. Haywad, Paul (11 January 2009). "Wayne Rooney is just like I was. So enthusiastic". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. Archived from the original on 18 June 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
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3. ^ "Fergie handed new accolade". BBC Sport. BBC. 9 December 2001. Archived from the original on 28 May 2006. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
4. Gibbons, Alex (6 June 2004). "The highs and lows of Frank Bruno". The Observer. London: Guardian Media Group. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 3 February 2009.
5. "Today's Number 1". The Independent. FindArticles. 5 September 1995. Retrieved 3 February 2009.
6. "To be Frank, this is going down-Hill". Daily Record. 18 December 1996. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2009 – via HighBeam.com archive.
7. "Bruno backlash". The Sunday Telegraph. ]. 22 December 1996. Retrieved 3 February 2009.
8. Walters, Mike (16 December 1996). "Ruddy great Damon". The Mirror.
9. ^ "Seve Ballesteros to get BBC Lifetime Achievement award". BBC Sport. 11 December 2009. Archived from the original on 14 December 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
10. Walters, Mike (18 December 1996). "How did Bruno get an award for...this!; Henry Cooper on the Beeb's sporting blunder". The Mirror. ].
11. "Hill wins BBC award for second time". The Independent. London: Independent News & Media. 16 December 1996. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
12. "Rusedski wins sports star of year award". The Examiner. Thomas Crosbie Holdings. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
13. Reade, Brian (19 December 1997). "Personality bypass for TV turkeys; The column that puts the boot into sport". The Mirror.
14. Silver, Neil (10 December 2001). "Beckham is chosen by BBC viewers". The Independent. London: Independent News & Media. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
15. "Best nets lifetime honour". BBC Sport. BBC. 2 December 2002. Archived from the original on 12 March 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
16. Akwagyiram, Alexis (9 December 2002). "Marathon winner scoops BBC sports award". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
17. "Navratilova given lifetime honour". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 December 2003. Archived from the original on 14 March 2006. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
18. Norton, Charlie (15 December 2003). "Wilkinson and Redgrave scoop top BBC awards". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 4 September 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
19. ^ "Botham: The entertainer". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 December 2004. Archived from the original on 1 January 2007. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
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22. "Sports Personality: The winners". BBC Sport. BBC. 10 December 2006. Archived from the original on 14 December 2007. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
23. Broadbent, Rick (12 December 2006). "Borg backs irrepressible Murray to end British grand-slam drought". The Times. London: The News International. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
24. "Robson humbled by lifetime award". BBC Sport. BBC. 9 December 2007. Archived from the original on 26 December 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
25. Millward, Robert (10 December 2007). "England's Bobby Robson honored for lifetime achievement in soccer". USA Today. Gannett Company. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
26. "Charlton given BBC Lifetime award". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 December 2008. Archived from the original on 14 December 2008. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
27. Roughley, Gregg (14 December 2008). "BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2008 – as it happened". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 15 December 2008. Retrieved 15 December 2008.
28. "David Beckham to be given Lifetime Achievement award". BBC. BBC. 18 December 2010. Archived from the original on 18 December 2010. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
29. "BBC Sport – Sir Steve Redgrave given BBC Lifetime Achievement award". BBC News. 22 December 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
30. "Lord Coe receives BBC Lifetime Achievement award". BBC. 16 December 2012. Archived from the original on 9 March 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
31. "Sports Personality 2014: Sir Chris Hoy receives lifetime award – BBC Sport". Bbc.co.uk. 14 December 2014. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
32. "AP McCoy to be honoured with Lifetime Achievement award at BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2015". BBC. 17 December 2015. Archived from the original on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
33. "BBC Sports Personality 2016: Michael Phelps to be given lifetime achievement award". BBC. 19 December 2016. Archived from the original on 19 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
34. "BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2017: Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill gets Lifetime Achievement award". BBC. 17 December 2017. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
35. "Sports Personality of the Year: Billie Jean King given lifetime achievement award". BBC. 16 December 2018. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
36. "Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson given Lifetime Achievement award". BBC. 15 December 2019. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
37. "Sports Personality 2021: Simone Biles honoured with Lifetime Achievement award". BBC. 18 December 2021. Archived from the original on 18 December 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
38. "Sports Personality of the Year: Usain Bolt wins Lifetime Achievement award". BBC. 15 December 2022. Archived from the original on 19 December 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
39. "Dalglish given BBC Lifetime Achievement award". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 19 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
40. "Cavendish wins BBC Lifetime Achievement award". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 December 2024.

• BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards
• Awards established in 1996
• Lifetime achievement awards
• 1996 establishments in the United Kingdom