Why not a joint or shared award for our sporting heroes­ this year?, with so many outstanding performances its a­ shame to have to choose only one winner. Probably­ Hamilton will get it on celeb status and Olympic GB­ will get the Team award. Oh and what about Andy­ Murray?...ok ok awful personality but he's done­ more in 1 year of tennis than his british counterparts­ have done in 10 years, yet no mention of him. Is it­ Sports Personality of the Year or Sports Achievement of­ the Year?. Subtle difference in the way the award is­ perceived by Joe Public.

As Chris Hoy should. Hamilton with get another chance,­ Hoy might. But Hoy def deserves it this year.

If the Beeb dont give it to one of those great­ PARAolympians then we should not pay for tv license for­ next 12 months. Brave, brilliant, and wonderfully­ special people.

mw barrows u got it in one - personailty v personality­ HOY by a country mile

One thing I don't understand about Sports­ Personality is the idea that if you win the Formula One­ World Title you seem to automatically win the Sports­ Personality Award. Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill both­ certainly did both in years when we had Olympians doing­ great things.

In other sports you seem to have be­ dominant for quite some time before you win SPOTY.­ Regrave had to win five gold medals before he won his,­ Lennox Lewis and Joe Calzaghe had to be dominant in­ boxing for years and years, Lance Armstrong had to win­ the Tour De France 5 times before he got the Overseas­ award. But in Formula 1, one title equals automatic­ win. I just don't get it, what's so special­ about formula 1. Personally I think somebody should­ have to win the Formula 1 World title at least 3 times­ before they are even considered for this award. Only in­ a slow year like 2006 should One title get you the­ award, as obviously winning the title is much better­ than whatever Zara Phillips did that year, but in a­ year like this one, just winning your first world title­ doesn't cut it.

Meanwhile Hoy has now been­ dominant at two Olympic games, and has won numerous­ world title in between games. He is much more deserving­ than Hamilton of the Journalist's Award and also­ much more deserving of the Sports Personality Award.

Strangely, there is a connection between the two­ sports. Chris Boardman's first hour record bike was­ designed by and proudly bore the name of­ 'Lotus', remember them? The current track and­ triathlon bikes could be considered descendants.
Good­ Luck and well done to all contenders.

Should be close one for BBC personality of the­ Year,
Hoy great acheivement 3 GOLDS
Hamilton great­ season World Champion
Calzagne great career defining­ completion UNDEFEATED

Where do you split it?

Rebecca Adlington gets my vote and should be Dam­ Rebecca Adlington in the new year from the Queen for­ what what she did it the pool.

Hoy should get Knighted­ aswel

To ??? Name one! Who deserves it more? Don't come­ out with statements like that without backing it­ up?
Hoy was a good choice, equally Hamilton was an­ excellent contender. Bradley Wiggins too stood a­ chance. We had an excellent year for sport and so many­ candidates somebody had to win. By the way rumour goes ­ that Hoy gets by on £22000 a year, more than I earn but­ his career is short. Lampard gets a fortune a week just­ for kicking a bit of leather around a park. But hey his­ career is short too lol....

And so bloody what. Who the hell cares?

I think the award is justified, though the're all­ contributing to Britain's image in world of sports­ but, looking at their rewards i think Hamilton have­ been fairly rewarded than his couterpart. Is like­ teacher, doctor, nurse against business man or chief­ executives of financial institutions. Hoy wining it is­ fair, Hamilton have so many yrs in front of him to win­ it, next time kudos to both of them.
Is not abt­ living abroad i don't think he's only British­ living abroad, there are loads British that are even­ earning more than him that have chosen the similar­ direction

All British F1 Drivers have foreign residence - Button­ and Coulthard both reside in Monaco so why the big deal­ about Hamilton living in Switzerland? The fact is that­ he has won the F1 Crown in only two seasons and is the­ youngest F1 World Champion EVER
He has smashed records­ in F1 that even Schumacher couldn't do in his first­ 3 years!(Even with Benneton!) The guy has been winning­ since he was 8 and is the most naturally gifted driver­ in motorsport ever. Some will claim that Lewis has been­ passed over because of the colour of his skin, but I­ don't subscribe to that, I aggree with most who say­ that Hoy was given the award because of his­ "Ordinary Brit" tag, but the fact remains­ that hamilton has achieved more in his field and is­ still relatively new! See how the Journalists react if­ he wins the crown in 2009!

simonpophale, the idea that Hoy has been struggling on­ minimal grants is pure fiction. The UK cycing team has­ had massive amounts of investment, from specialist­ coaching and training, through to specially-designed­ and developed bikes, together with a host of support­ services. Its not an accident that they have been­ hoovering up all the medals at the Olympics and World­ Championships.

Fair play to both - they are both­ great sportsmen. Can't help thinking though that­ Hoy's selection probably has more to do with his­ image as a "humble", ordinary Brit, in a­ low-profile sport, doing extraordinary things, rather­ than someone who is seen as a flash young superstar -­ the usual British hatred of anyone who anyone who seems­ to have too much...

Hoy is the best choice, he competes in a sport which­ has not lots of money washing through it, like Motor­ Sport.

While I appreciate the sacrifices­ Hamiltons' father has made for him, Chris Hoy has­ had to survive on lottery grants and all sorts of other­ funding. Once Hamilton made it close to the summit of­ the sport, that started paying for itself.

Hoy has­ had to struggle, as sadly as have a lot of British­ Olympians, on minimal grants and assistance. Which­ makes thier achievements all the more admirable.

Fair play to both of them. I think they both deserve­ it.

who think of these ideas?? Mercade vs bike? i woonder­ who'll win

What a pleasure to see a 'real' sportsman­ gaining credit!!!!!!!!!!!
Callum