Third spot even looks an under appreciation of Dujardin at SPOTY
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Based on the betting for BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2014, it is a two-man race for victory between Rory McIlroy and Lewis Hamilton. Gareth Bale is third favourite at 33/1, showing how far clear the first two are deemed to be.
Therefore, the most competitive betting market for the event on December 14th appears to be who will finish third and Charlotte Dujardin looks the clear value bet at 9/1.
In terms of actual achievement, the equestrian rider surely eclipses all of the other nine athletes in the running for the award.
Her nickname of “The Girl with the Dancing Horse” is apt, but “Dujardin the Dressage Dominator” would be equally as suitable.
Where others have achieved solid milestones within their sport, Dujardin has done the lot.
Not to devalue Hamilton’s achievements in becoming Formula One world champion, but this was no great shock considering his Mercedes was clearly the best on the grid.
Jo Pavey won a gold medal at the European Championships in the 10,000m at the age of 40. This is a good achievement, but it was still a race that failed to feature many of the best athletes in the world in this discipline.
Dujardin is the first rider in equestrian history to hold all of the major titles in dressage – she is currently the Olympic champion, the world champion and the European champion thanks to the relationship struck with her horse Valegro.
Furthermore, she is the first Brit ever to win a World Cup dressage title – doing so in Lyon in 2014 – and broke the world record when landing the freestyle dressage world title.
This consistency of success has already seen Dujardin named the Sunday Times and Sky Sports Sportswoman of the Year, finishing ahead of fellow SPOTY nominees Lizzy Yarnold and Pavey.
In my opinion she deserves to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year, but at 100/1 that looks unlikely. Third place is the least her talents and achievements merit.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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