Phillips wins BBC accolade
Monday, 11 December 2006Equestrian star Zara Phillips has emulated her mother, The Princess Royal, in being voted the BBC Sports Personality of The Year.
The 25-year-old, whose father Mark Phillips was an Olympic gold medallist in the same sport, finished ahead of runner-up Darren Clarke who was a Ryder Cup hero for Europe against the USA only a few weeks after the death of his wife Heather through cancer.
Phillips won the individual gold on Toytown in the three-day eventing competition at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen in Germany.
She produced a near faultless performance over the three days of dressage, cross country and show jumping.
The Overseas Personality Of The Year award was decided by the votes of the studio audience and they chose tennis star Roger Federer, who has won four successive Wimbledon singles titles.
St Helens rugby league side had double reason to celebrate after winning the Team Of The Year award while Saints supremo, Daniel Anderson, was chosen as Coach Of The Year as a result of their treble triumph.
They were the surprise winners ahead of the Ryder Cup team who had defeated the United States by a nine-point margin to lift the trophy for the third time in succession.
Swedish tennis legend Bjorn Borg won the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the sport - 25 years after winning the fifth of his Wimbledon singles titles.
Footballer Theo Walcott, who moved from Southampton to Arsenal 11 months ago for £12 million, was named the Young Personality Of The Year.
Comedian David Walliams was presented with a one-off award in recognition of his outstanding achievement of swimming the English Channel and raising over £1 million for Sport Relief.
