BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award have been represented; athletics has the highest representation, with 17 recipients. Counting Torvill and Dean separately, there have been 48 English winners of the award, six Scottish, five Welsh, three Northern Irish, and one Manx. Since the award ceremony began only on one occasion (2013) have none of the podium placers been English. On three occasions a sportsman from outside the United Kingdom has made the podium, on each occasion for sporting success achieved in Great Britain; New Zealand speedway star Barry Briggs (1964 and 1966) and Italian jockey Frankie Dettori (1996). Barry McGuigan, Greg Rusedski and Lennox Lewis originally
BBC Sports Personality of the Year a further three regular awards: Coach of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, and a Helen Rollason Award for "outstanding courage and achievement in the face of adversity". In a one-off award, boxer Muhammad Ali was voted as the Sports Personality of the Century. On 1 November 2003, BBC Books published "BBC Sports Personality of the Year 50th Anniversary" (), written by Steve Rider and Martyn Smith, to mark the golden anniversary of the show. Leading up to the anniversary show on 14 December 2003, a series of five half-hour special programmes, entitled "Simply The Best – Sports Personality", were