The BBC World Sport Star of the Year (formerly known as the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year) is an award presented at the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year award ceremony. The award is presented to a non-British sportsperson considered to have made the most substantial contribution to a sport in that year.
| BBC World Sport Star of the Year | |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Presented by | BBC Sports Personality of the Year |
| Formerly called | BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year |
| First award | 1960 |
| Most recent winner | Armand Duplantis (2025) |
| Website | https://www.bbc.com/sport/sports-personality |
History
The Overseas Personality award was first presented in 1960, six years after the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award was introduced. The first recipient of the award was Australian middle distance runner Herb Elliott. Since then, the award has been presented to 53 sportspersons. Swiss tennis player Roger Federer has won the award four times. American boxer Muhammad Ali and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt have both won the award three times. The award has been shared on three occasions—by Ron Clarke and Gary Player in 1965, Eusébio and Garfield Sobers in 1966, and Evander Holyfield and Michael Johnson in 1996. The husband-and-wife skating duo of Oleg Protopopov and Ludmila Belousova are the only pair to have won the award, doing so in 1968. Belousova was the first woman to become Overseas Personality—she was also the oldest, aged 33. George Moore is the oldest recipient of the award, winning in 1967 aged 44. The youngest recipient of the award is Nadia Comăneci, who won in 1976 at age 15. Boris Becker, who was 18 when he won in 1985, is the youngest male to have won.
Twenty-seven countries have been represented by the award winners as of 2024. United States sportspersons have won the award the most times, having had nineteen recipients, two of whom shared the award. Another US-born sportsperson received the award while representing Sweden. Three cricketers have received the award -- Garfield Sobers of Barbados, Brian Lara of Trinidad and Tobago (both of whom played for the West Indies cricket team), and Shane Warne of Australia. Fourteen sporting disciplines have been represented; tennis has the highest representation, with fifteen recipients.
Only one winner has ever been stripped of the award – US cyclist Lance Armstrong, whose 2003 award was rescinded following the UCI's 2012 decision to strip him of his titles and ban him for life from the sport.
In 2018, the award was renamed BBC World Sport Star of the Year. Along with the change of name, votes could be cast from outside of the UK for the first time.
Nomination procedure
The award was decided by a panel of over 30 sporting journalists. Each panellist voted for their top two choices; their first preference was awarded two points, and their second preference was awarded one point. The winning sportsperson had the most total points. In the case of a points tie, the sportsperson chosen as first preference by the most panellists is the winner. If this is also a tie the award is shared. In 2015 the public voted for this award.
Winners
By year
- † Denotes joint winners.
- ‡ Denotes a winning couple.
| Year | Nationality | Winner | Sport | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Australia | Herb Elliott | Athletics | |
| 1961 | Soviet Union | Valeriy Brumel | Athletics | |
| 1962 | Canada | Donald Jackson | Figure skating | |
| 1963 | France | Jacques Anquetil | Cycling | |
| 1964 | Ethiopia | Abebe Bikila | Athletics | |
| 1965 | Australia | Ron Clarke † | Athletics | |
| South Africa | Gary Player † | Golf | ||
| 1966 | Portugal | Eusébio † | Football | |
| Barbados | Garfield Sobers † | Cricket | ||
| 1967 | Australia | George Moore | Horse racing | |
| 1968 | Soviet Union | Oleg Protopopov ‡ | Figure skating | |
| Soviet Union | Ludmila Belousova ‡ | Figure skating | ||
| 1969 | Australia | Rod Laver | Tennis | |
| 1970 | Brazil | Pelé | Football | |
| 1971 | United States | Lee Trevino | Golf | |
| 1972 | Soviet Union | Olga Korbut | Gymnastics | |
| 1973 | United States | Muhammad Ali (1/3) | Boxing | |
| 1974 | United States | Muhammad Ali (2/3) | Boxing | |
| 1975 | United States | Arthur Ashe | Tennis | |
| 1976 | Romania | Nadia Comăneci | Gymnastics | |
| 1977 | Austria | Niki Lauda | Formula One | |
| 1978 | United States | Muhammad Ali (3/3) | Boxing | |
| 1979 | Sweden | Björn Borg | Tennis | |
| 1980 | United States | Jack Nicklaus | Golf | |
| 1981 | United States | Chris Evert | Tennis | |
| 1982 | United States | Jimmy Connors | Tennis | |
| 1983 | United States | Carl Lewis | Athletics | |
| 1984 | Spain | Seve Ballesteros | Golf | |
| 1985 | West Germany | Boris Becker | Tennis | |
| 1986 | Australia | Greg Norman (1/2) | Golf | |
| 1987 | United States | Martina Navratilova | Tennis | |
| 1988 | West Germany | Steffi Graf | Tennis | |
| 1989 | United States | Mike Tyson | Boxing | |
| 1990 | Australia | Mal Meninga | Rugby league | |
| 1991 | United States | Mike Powell | Athletics | |
| 1992 | United States | Andre Agassi | Tennis | |
| 1993 | Australia | Greg Norman (2/2) | Golf | |
| 1994 | Trinidad and Tobago | Brian Lara | Cricket | |
| 1995 | New Zealand | Jonah Lomu | Rugby union | |
| 1996 | United States | Evander Holyfield † | Boxing | |
| United States | Michael Johnson | Athletics | ||
| 1997 | Switzerland | Martina Hingis | Tennis | |
| 1998 | United States | Mark O'Meara | Golf | |
| 1999 | United States | Maurice Greene | Athletics | |
| 2000 | United States | Tiger Woods | Golf | |
| 2001 | Croatia | Goran Ivanišević | Tennis | |
| 2002 | Brazil | Ronaldo | Football | |
| 2003 | ||||
| 2004 | Switzerland | Roger Federer (1/4) | Tennis | |
| 2005 | Australia | Shane Warne | Cricket | |
| 2006 | Switzerland | Roger Federer (2/4) | Tennis | |
| 2007 | Switzerland | Roger Federer (3/4) | Tennis | |
| 2008 | Jamaica | Usain Bolt (1/3) | Athletics | |
| 2009 | Jamaica | Usain Bolt (2/3) | Athletics | |
| 2010 | Spain | Rafael Nadal | Tennis | |
| 2011 | Serbia | Novak Djokovic | Tennis | |
| 2012 | Jamaica | Usain Bolt (3/3) | Athletics | |
| 2013 | Germany | Sebastian Vettel | Formula One | |
| 2014 | Portugal | Cristiano Ronaldo | Football | |
| 2015 | New Zealand | Dan Carter | Rugby union | |
| 2016 | United States | Simone Biles | Gymnastics | |
| 2017 | Switzerland | Roger Federer (4/4) | Tennis | |
| 2018 | Italy | Francesco Molinari | Golf | |
| 2019 | Kenya | Eliud Kipchoge | Athletics | |
| 2020 | Russia | Khabib Nurmagomedov | Mixed martial arts | |
| 2021 | Ireland | Rachael Blackmore | Horse racing | |
| 2022 | Argentina | Lionel Messi | Football | |
| 2023 | Norway | Erling Haaland | Football | |
| 2024 | Sweden | Armand Duplantis (1/2) | Athletics | |
| 2025 | Sweden | Armand Duplantis (2/2) | Athletics |
|
By nationality
This table lists the total number of awards won by place of birth.
| Nationality | Number of wins[a] |
|---|---|
| United States | 20 |
| Australia | 8 |
| Soviet Union | 5 |
| Switzerland | 4 |
| Germany | 3 |
| Jamaica | 3 |
| Brazil | 2 |
| Czechoslovakia | 2 |
| New Zealand | 2 |
| Portugal | 2 |
| Spain | 2 |
| Yugoslavia | 2 |
| Argentina | 1 |
| Austria | 1 |
| Barbados | 1 |
| Canada | 1 |
| Ethiopia | 1 |
| France | 1 |
| Ireland | 1 |
| Italy | 1 |
| Kenya | 1 |
| Romania | 1 |
| South Africa | 1 |
| Sweden | 1 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 1 |
| United Kingdom | 1 |
- 2024 and 2025 recipient Armand Duplantis was born in the United States to an American father and Swedish mother. He holds citizenship in both countries and represents Sweden.
- Of the recipients born in the Soviet Union:
- 1961 recipient Valeriy Brumel, and 1968 recipients Oleg Protopopov and Ludmila Belousova, were born in what is now Russia, and represented the Soviet Union.
- 1972 recipient Olga Korbut was born in what is now Belarus, and also represented the Soviet Union.
- 2020 recipient Khabib Nurmagomedov was born in what is now Russia. He became a citizen of Russia upon the collapse of the Soviet Union during his early childhood.
- Of the recipients born in the former Czechoslovakia:
- 1987 recipient Martina Navratilova was born in what is now the Czech Republic. She fled to the US at age 18, and held only United States citizenship at the time of her award.
- 1997 recipient Martina Hingis was born in what is now Slovakia. She moved to Switzerland at age 7.
- One of Portugal's recipients, 1966 co-winner Eusébio, was born in Mozambique while it was still a Portuguese colony. He moved to mainland Portugal in his childhood.
- Of the recipients born in the former Yugoslavia:
- 2001 recipient Goran Ivanišević was born in what is now Croatia, and became a Croatian citizen upon the country's independence from Yugoslavia.
- 2011 recipient Novak Djokovic was born in what is now Serbia, which became a completely separate country in the years after the breakup of Yugoslavia.
- 2023 recipient Erling Haaland was born in the United Kingdom, where his Norwegian father was playing professional football. He holds citizenship in both countries and represents Norway.
By sport
This table lists the total number of awards won by recipient's sporting profession.
| Sporting profession | Number of wins[a] |
|---|---|
| Tennis | 17 |
| Athletics | 13 |
| Golf | 9 |
| Football | 6 |
| Boxing | 5 |
| Cricket | 3 |
| Figure skating | 3 |
| Gymnastics | 3 |
| Formula One | 2 |
| Horse racing | 2 |
| Rugby union | 2 |
| Cycling | 1 |
| Rugby league | 1 |
| Mixed martial arts | 1 |
By gender
This table lists the total number of awards won by gender.
| Gender | Number of wins[a] |
|---|---|
| Male | 52.5 |
| Female | 8.5 |
See also
- Athlete of the Year
- Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year (Laureus World Sports Academy)
- Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year
- L'Équipe Champion of Champions
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