Sport 13-12-2004 Kelly is Sports Personality who: British Olympic athlete Kelly Holmes what: Named BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2004 where: LONDON when: Last night snippet: "Who else could it be?" asks Sarah Edworthy in The Telegraph. "After the missed opportunities, the disappointment, the catalogue of injuries came two gold medals over five days won through sheer perseverance and determination. Kelly Holmes, the first Briton to win the Olympic middle distance double of 800m and 1500m for 84 years, last night received the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award to a standing ovation at a live ceremony in Television Centre, west London." There`s much the same sentiment from Mike Rowbottom at The Independent, who says "the 34-year-old`s achievement in winning two gold medals at the Athens Olympics may have come as a surprise, but her victory at the BBC Centre in Wood Lane was a racing certainty." Holmes beat Olympic medallists Amir Khan and rower Matthew Pinsent, along with footballer Wayne Rooney and cricketer Andrew Flintoff," says The Guardian. "Pinsent came second while Flintoff, praised by lifetime achievement award winner Ian Botham as the world`s best all-rounder, was third." The night`s other winners, all profiled on the BBC news website, were Great Britain`s Olympic men`s coxless four (Team of the Year), Ian Botham (Lifetime Achievement Award), Arsene Wenger (Coach of the Year), Roger Federer (Overseas Personality of the Year), 17-year-old tennis player Andrew Murray from Dunblane (Young Personality of the Year), terminally-ill nine-year-old sports fan Kirsty Howard (Helen Rollason Award) and children`s football coach Abdullah Ben-Kmayal (Unsung Hero Award). [... more]

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