From the Sidelines (From Your Local Guardian)

From the Sidelines

11:34am Friday 12th December 2008

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It is less then a fortnight until Christmas and again 10 sporting heroes are sweating on the outcome of the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year awards night on Sunday.

Why? Lewis Hamilton has his Formula One world championship tucked away in the draw, Joe Calzaghe’s undefeated record is in tact and a host of Olympians are still walking the streets of Britain showing off their golden Beijing neckwear.

Do these people need any more recognition? In the case of the latter, the answer is most definitely, yes.

I, for one, will be particularly disturbed should multi-millionaire Hamilton walk off with the top prize or if Andy ‘no Grand Slam yet’ Murray gets a sniff of the famous award.

The event’s prestige in the sporting calendar and my faith in the British public would be further undermined should either be crowned.

For two weeks in the summer, Britain seemingly ruled the sporting world as Team GB claimed medal after medal in China and seven stars of that show are on the short-list.

Former Twickenham resident and Kingston Boat Club member Rebecca Romero, a world champion in both rowing and cycling, is one of them.

Having tasted the disappointment of settling for silver on the water in Athens, she switched sports and roared back four years later to claim the individual pursuit title.

Her sporting endeavour is made even more remarkable given the fact she survives on a fraction of the £14m Hamilton gets per year from F1 team McLaren.

By comparison, we have heard in recent weeks how Barnes’s Sarah Webb is having to manage a six-figure debt racked up in her quest for Olympic sailing gold.

Ordinary people such as Webb and Romero have largely battled the odds to achieve their dream, and neither will receive the financial rewards they probably deserve.

So, I can’t help but think being handed a trophy by a grinning Gary Lineker after an X Factor-type popularity contest is a bit of an anti-climax compared to standing on top of the podium with the national anthem blaring loudly.

Brentford boss Andy Scott claimed a surprise BBC Radio London gong for manager of the year and he is right to point out it is all for nothing if the Bees don’t get promoted.

He has ploughed his own uphill furrow – largely against the financial odds.

Hopefully, he – like the others in line for the top prize this weekend have already – will add a medal of some description to his growing reputation. Vote Team GB.