Horse Racing: McCoy acclaims the Sportsman of the Year Award
Wednesday was indeed a lucky day for Tony McCoy and the horse racing industry since the famed jockey managed to claim the most prestigious sports award - the Sportsman of the Year Award. What is so special about McCoy clinching this honour is the fact that
he is the first horseman to have ever earned this title since the initiation of the SJA Awards. The champion was more than happy and delighted to have received this award.
There was a tough competition between McCoy and the fancied golfer Graeme McDowell. The winner was to be announced by the panel of sports journalists and analysts working for the SJA. McCoy received more than 700 votes by these recognized sports journalists.
The jockey was reported to have said that he was flattered after receiving the honour. Apart from its own prestige and significance, there is much more to this award for the celebrated horseman. His winning of this award will leave a great impact on the prospects
of him winning the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. The winner of this title will be decided by the fans and the public on the 19th of December 2010 and is obviously anticipated by McCoy and his connections.
Talking to the sports correspondents, the champion was reported as saying, “Obviously it’s a prestigious award. It’s voted for by the sports writers, so for them to want to award me with that is very flattering and looking at the winners in the past like
Sir Chris Hoy and David Beckham it’s a very A-listed award.”
Even though it was the first day in the 62-year-old history of the exalted award that a horseman was named for the title, it certainly wasn’t the first occasion for the talented jockey to be adorned with a title or an honour. Those which are the major awards
on the list of McCoy’s extensive credentials includes the Pat Besford Award that the jockey was presented with in 2002 for his remarkable achievement in the sport of horse racing and because he was the runner-up to the winner of the Sports man of the Year
Award in 2002. The athlete who claimed this award that year was the boxer Lennox Lewis.
The current campaign that has been launched for McCoy to increase his chances of winning the Sports Personality of the Year Award, now has a very strong base to build on.
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