The BBC presents its Sports Personality of the Year Award on Dec 9 this year and has announced the shortlist of ten contenders for this prestigious accolade. Sports betting enthusiasts will have the chance not only to vote for their heroes but also to wager on the outcome of the contest with the many online betting sites offering odds on the outcome of the public vote and free bets for new accounts applicants.

Lewis Hamilton is the bookies’ favourite with Ricky Hatton in second place. Twenty four hours before the BBC show, Hatton is in Las Vegas to challenge Floyd Mayweather for the Welterweight title which many regard as the fight of the decade. Online betting offers a variety of opportunities to wager on this contest. Welsh hero, Joe Calzaghe is another great boxing contender for the BBC award.

Paula Radcliffe and Christine Ohuruogu represent the world of athletics while golfer, Justin Rose, motorcyclist, James Toseland, tennis star, Andy Murray and England rugby stars Jonny Wilkinson and Jason Robinson complete the candidates.

More than thirty top sporting experts were asked to provide their top ten of outstanding athletes for the year and the shortlist is a distillation of the names put forward. Those interested in sports betting should know that there are three current world champions and three runners-up on the list and they come from a total of seven sports. The sharper eyed among you will notice that, for the second year running, there are no footballers on the list.