Cav Could Add Sports Personality Accolade As Yet Another Badge of Honour

Mark Cavendish continued his inexorable journey towards winning the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award after yesterday swooping up the Sports Journalist’s Association’s Sportsman of the Year award, to add to his award received last week at the Jaguar Academy Awards.

Bearing in mind he received an MBE from the Queen this week at Buckingham Palace and discovered that his impending baby due in the Spring will be a daughter, Cav has had what can only be described as a good week!

Will he win SPOTY? He’s got every chance, although Mo Farah, Alistair Cook and Rory McIlroy might have a say in it too.

Yesterday’s bash at London’s Connaught Rooms also saw Rebecca Adlington win Sportswoman of the Year and Malcolm Arnold win a special award in recognition of his coaching of some of the great athletes in history, including John Akii-Bua, Colin Jackson, current world 400 metres hurdles champion Dai Young and, er, me.

Other awards also went to Ironman champ and Sportsvibe friend Chrissie Wellington (who spoke out against the lack of women in the SPOTY top ten), the England cricket team and the queen of British rowing, Katherine Grainger. 

It all served to whet the appetite for the London Olympics, now just seven months away. On the evidence of the SJA awards, British sport is in rude health.