2015 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award
The 2015 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award took place on 20 December 2015 at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast. Tennis player Andy Murray won it controversially. It was the 62nd presentation of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award. Awarded annually by the British Broadcasting Corporation, the main award honours an individual's British sporting achievement over the past year, with the winner selected by public vote from a twelve-person shortlist; the winner was Andy Murray.
In addition to the sports personality of the year award, there were seven other awards: Team of the Year, Coach of the Year, Overseas Sports Personality of the Year, Young Sports Personality of the Year, Helen Rollason Award, Lifetime Achievement Award and Unsung Hero.
Controversy
There were calls to remove Tyson Fury from the nominees list, after comments he made were criticised as homophobic and sexist.Nominees
The nominees were revealed on 30 November 2015.| Nominee | Sport | 2015 Achievement | BBC profile | Votes |
| Andy Murray | Tennis | Led Great Britain to victory in the Davis Cup for the first time in 79 years. In doing so, he became only the third player to win 8 singles rubbers and the fourth player to win 11 rubbers. | 361,446 | |
| Kevin Sinfield | Rugby League | Captained Leeds Rhinos to the treble, winning the Challenge Cup, League Leader's Shield and Super League Grand Final. | 278,353 | |
| Jessica Ennis-Hill | Athletics | Won the heptathlon in the IAAF World Championships for the second time, thirteen months after comeback from birth of her first child. | 79,898 | |
| Tyson Fury | Boxing | Won three of the four major heavyweight titles upon defeating Wladimir Klitschko, who had not been defeated in 12 years prior. | 72,330 | |
| Lewis Hamilton | Formula 1 | Won the World Drivers' Championship for the third time. Also became the first Briton to successfully defend his title. | 48,379 | |
| Chris Froome | Cycling | Won the Tour de France for the second time. | 39,007 | |
| Mo Farah | Athletics | Became the first athlete to achieve the long distance "double-double" at the IAAF World Championships. Also became the first Briton to win outdoor titles in three World Championships, both consecutively and outright. | 31,311 | |
| Max Whitlock | Gymnastics | Won the pommel horse in the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. Also became the first British male to win a global title, and the first to win three medals in one World Championship. | 25,925 | |
| Greg Rutherford | Athletics | Won the long jump in the IAAF World Championships. Also became the fifth Briton to hold Olympic, World, European, and Commonwealth titles simultaneously, and the first to also hold the IAAF Diamond League title. | 23,492 | |
| Lizzie Armitstead | Cycling | Successfully defended her title in the UCI Women's Road World Cup and won the road race in the UCI Road World Championships. | 22,356 | |
| Adam Peaty | Swimming | Won the 50m/100m breaststroke and the 4 × 100 m mixed medley relay in the FINA World Championships. Set three world records during the season and became the first Briton to claim three world titles in a single championship. | 13,738 | |
| Lucy Bronze | Football | Member of the English squad that came third in the FIFA Women's World Cup; she scored 2 goals in the tournament. | 13,236 |
Other awards
In addition to the main award as "Sports Personality of the Year", several other awards were also announced:- Overseas Personality: Dan Carter
- Team of the Year: Great Britain Davis Cup team
- Lifetime Achievement: AP McCoy
- Coach of the Year: Michael O'Neill
- Helen Rollason Award: Bailey Matthews
- Young Personality: Ellie Downie
- Unsung Hero Award: Damien Lindsay