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BBC Sports Personality Quizzes, Trivia and Puzzles
BBC Sports Personality Quizzes, Trivia

BBC Sports Personality Trivia

BBC Sports Personality Trivia Quizzes

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7 quizzes and 75 trivia questions.
1.
  BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [3]   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award has been held annually since 1954. This is the third in a series of quizzes on the athletes who have been honoured over the years, covering 1974-1983.
Easier, 10 Qns, Supersal1, Dec 06 09
Easier
Supersal1
760 plays
2.
  BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [2]   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award has been held annually since 1954. This is the second in a series of quizzes on the athletes who have been honoured over the years, covering 1964-1973.
Average, 10 Qns, Supersal1, Dec 06 09
Average
Supersal1
654 plays
3.
  BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [1]   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award has been held annually since 1954. This is the first of a series of quizzes on the athletes who have been honoured over the years, covering 1954-1963.
Average, 10 Qns, Supersal1, Dec 06 09
Average
Supersal1
559 plays
4.
  BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [5]   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 15 Qns
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award has been held annually since 1954. This is the fifth in a series of quizzes on the athletes who have been honoured over the years, covering 1994-2008.
Average, 15 Qns, Supersal1, Dec 06 09
Average
Supersal1
576 plays
5.
  BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [4]    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award has been held annually since 1954. This is the fourth in a series of quizzes on the athletes who have been honoured over the years, covering 1984-1993.
Average, 10 Qns, Supersal1, Dec 06 09
Average
Supersal1
588 plays
6.
  A Decade Of...BBC Sports Personality Winners    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Every year, the BBC presents its Sports Personality of the Year award, recognising the greatest sporting achievements of the year. Let's look at who excelled in the 2010s!
Tough, 10 Qns, TheOracler, Dec 23 19
Tough
TheOracler
Dec 23 19
145 plays
7.
  BBC Sport Program Superstars 2003    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This Quiz is all about BBC's "Superstars" event where famous athletes compete against each other in a wide range of disciplines, collecting points according to their score or time, and the winner is the man or woman with the highest aggregate total.
Very Difficult, 10 Qns, grilli, Dec 04 03
Very Difficult
grilli
468 plays
trivia question Quick Question
Cricketer Jim Laker was the 1956 winner. He played for Surrey and Essex at county level, but in which county was he born?

From Quiz "BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [1]"





BBC Sports Personality Trivia Questions
1. Jockey AP McCoy won the Sports Personality of the Year award in 2010. That year, McCoy won the Grand National for the first time, riding a horse trained by whom?

From Quiz A Decade Of...BBC Sports Personality Winners

Answer: Jonjo O'Neill

McCoy defeated darts player Phil Taylor and heptathlete Jessica Ennis to become the first jockey to ever win the award. While McCoy won thousands of races in his career, he did not win the Grand National, considered the most important race of the year, until his 15th attempt in 2010. It was also the first time that O'Neill had won the big race too. The name of the horse that McCoy won with was Don't Push It. McCoy would ride the same horse again in the 2011 Grand National, but this time came in third place. While McCoy won 4,358 races in his record-breaking career, this would be the only time that he won the big one.

2. The 1994 winner lost his father in a plane crash in 1975. This was rather ironic as both father and son remained relatively unscathed during successful Formula One careers. Who was the 1994 winner?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [5]

Answer: Damon Hill & Hill

Damon Hill became the lead driver for Williams in 1994 after the death of Ayrton Senna at the San Marino Grand Prix. It was only his second full season of F1 racing. Hill was only one point behind Michael Schumacher for the Championship at the start of the last race of the season, the Australian Grand Prix. Their two cars were involved in a collision when Schumacher's car left the track, thus putting them both out of the race and ensuring that the one point difference remained. Hill went on to win the Championship in 1996.

3. What are the first names of ice dancers Torvill and Dean, who won the title in 1984?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [4]

Answer: Jayne and Christopher

Torvill and Dean famously won gold at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics, scoring perfect marks for their performance to Ravel's Bolero. Shortly after this they stopped competitive skating to turn their attentions to professional skating. However, they returned to competition and won bronze at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics and Gold at the 1994 European Figure Skating Championships. They retired as a team in 1998 but reunited in 2006 to act as coaches for the TV series "Dancing on Ice". Their routine to "Bolero" came very close to breaking the rules, which stated that each routine last no longer than four minutes. They had managed to pare the music down to four minutes and eighteen seconds. A re-read of the rules established that the four minutes started from the blades touching the ice, hence they started the routine from a kneeling position to use up the surplus eighteen seconds!

4. Mary Rand won the title in 1964. For what event did she set a world record at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [2]

Answer: Long jump

Mary Rand won a gold medal for her long jump of 6.76 metres. She also won silver for the Pentathlon and bronze for the 4x100m relay at the same Olympics. She was the first British woman to win an Olympic gold for a track and field event. An injury excluded her from the 1968 Mexico City Olympics and she retired from athletics in that year.

5. The first winner was a runner who later went into politics as a Conservative MP. He is well-known for being one of the pacemakers when the first sub-four minute mile was run in May 1954. Who is he?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [1]

Answer: Christopher Chataway

Christopher Chataway set a world record time of 13 minutes 51.6 seconds for the 5000 metres on 13th October 1954, at White City in London. The event was televised, which helped put him in the public eye for the vote. Roger Bannister was the first person to run the sub-four minute mile, and was runner-up in the awards. Chris Brasher was another of the pacemakers in this race. Harold Abrahams' story was told in the film, "Chariots of Fire", and he was in fact one of the commentators when Bannister ran the sub-four minute mile.

6. Cyclist Mark Cavendish won the award in 2011. In what was a landmark year for the Olympian, Cavendish was also honoured in the Queen's Birthday Honours in June 2011. Which title was he appointed?

From Quiz A Decade Of...BBC Sports Personality Winners

Answer: MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire)

2011 saw Cavendish defeat golfer Darren Clarke and long-distance runner Mo Farah to the award. It was a great year for the Brit, with Cavendish winning five stages of the 2011 Tour De France and becoming the first British cyclist to win the points classification in the Tour De France standings. In June 2011, it was announced that Cavendish would be appointed an MBE. Other impressive achievements from Cavendish that year included winning the UCI Road World Championship and winning the Revolution event at the Manchester Velodrome, his first win of any kind on the track since 2008.

7. Jonathan Edwards, the 1995 winner, set a new world record that year. In which event did he do this?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [5]

Answer: Triple jump

Jonathan Edwards actually set three world records that year - 17.98 metres on 18th July and 18.16 metres and 18.29 metres on 7th August, the latter winning him a Gold Medal at the European Championships at Gothenburg. In an echo of the film "Chariots of Fire", Edwards initially refused to compete on a Sunday because of his strong Christian beliefs and indeed missed competing in the 1991 World Championships because of this. However, he managed to reconcile his beliefs with his athletic commitments, enabling him to make his mark on the Triple Jump event

8. Boxer Barry McGuigan won the title in 1985. At which weight-class did he box?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [4]

Answer: Featherweight

Barry McGuigan (known as the Clones Cyclone) was born in Clones in the Republic of Ireland. He is the first person born outside of the United Kingdom to win the "Sports Personality of the Year" award. He won the WBA World Featherweight Championship in 1985, defeating Panama's Eusebio Pedroza. Featherweights box at 126 lbs, heavyweights at over 200 lbs, Cruiserweights at up to 200 lbs, and Welterweights at 140-147 lbs.

9. A cricketer won in 1975. He was described by one journalist as "The bank clerk who went to war". Who was he?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [3]

Answer: David Steele

David Steel played at county level for Northamptonshire when he joined the England team. He only played eight matches for England, but distinguished himself by scoring 50 runs in his first innings at his debut match against Australia in 1975.

10. The winner in 1965 was a cyclist, Tom Simpson. Sadly, he died in 1967, but how did he die?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [2]

Answer: Of exhaustion during a race

A professional cyclist since 1959, Tom Simpson became the first Briton to win the Professional Road Racing Championship in 1965. In 1967, while taking part in the Tour de France, Simpson was seen riding erratically. The temperature that day was extremely hot. Simpson fell once but insisted on continuing, and he was helped back onto his bike. He fell a second time, and this time did not get up. He was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital and the cause of death was given as a heart attack. However, it was discovered that he had taken amphetamines and he had drunk brandy in the early stages of the race, and it was thought that these two factors, together with the physical effort in punishing heat, contributed to his death.

11. Gordon Pirie won the award in 1955. What was his field of expertise?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [1]

Answer: Running

Douglas Alistair Gordon Pirie was a middle-distance runner. He set a world record of 7.55.5 minutes for the 3000 metres in June 1956, and broke that record the following year with a time of 7.52.8 seconds. This record remained until 1962, when it was broken by Michael Jazy of France. He won a silver medal at the 1956 Olympics for the 5000 metres. He also won the English Cross Country Running Championship three times.

12. There was a tie for Overseas Sports Personality of the year in 1996. A runner and a boxer shared the title. Who were they?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [5]

Answer: Michael Johnson and Evander Holyfield

Evander Holyfield defeated Mike Tyson in November 1996 to take the WBA Heavyweight title. Michael Johnson won gold medals in the 200 metres and 400 metres at the Atlanta Olympics that year. He set a record time of 19.32 seconds for the 200 metres. He won gold medals in three consecutive Olympics - Barcelona in 1992, Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000.

13. Formula One driver Nigel Mansell won the title in 1986. For which team did he race between 1985 and 1988?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [4]

Answer: Williams

Nigel Mansell won five Grand Prix races in 1986 and was runner-up in that season's championship. He went on to win the championship in 1992. He left F1 racing the following season after a disagreement with Williams. In 1993, he started CART racing for Newman/Haas and won the World Series, making him the first person to have been F1 World Champion and winner of the CART World Series.

14. John Curry won in 1976. In which field did he excel?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [3]

Answer: Figure Skating

John Curry (1941-1994) won a gold medal at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. He also won gold medals in the World Championships and European Championships that same year. He had originally wanted to train as a ballet dancer, but his father forbade it. John was able to start ballet lessons in his teens after the death of his father, and incorporated elements of ballet into his routines. He died of a heart attack in 1994.

15. Could there have been any other winner in 1966? The honour went to Bobby Moore, captain of England's World Cup winning football team. Two of his given names were Robert Frederick, but what was his third given name?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [2]

Answer: Chelsea

Bobby Moore was captain of West Ham United. He famously led the England team and to a 4-2 victory over West Germany. Before the match, the England manager, Sir Alf Ramsey, had been overheard discussing the possibility of dropping Moore from the final. Bobby played for England 108 times, 90 times as captain. He was the first footballer to win the Sports Personality of the Year title. Sadly, he died from bowel cancer in 1993. The Bobby Moore Fund raises money for research into this disease.

16. The award was given to Andy Murray in 2013. That year saw Murray make history, breaking Britain's 77-year wait for a British Gentlemen's Singles champion at Wimbledon. He also became the first Scot of either sex to win Wimbledon since whom?

From Quiz A Decade Of...BBC Sports Personality Winners

Answer: Harold Mahony

Murray's historic win was a huge moment for the British public, many of whom had never seen a homegrown player win the Wimbledon tournament. He received 56% of the public vote, crushing all of his competition which included 2010 winner AP McCoy, Tour de France winner Chris Froome and multiple Olympic champion Mo Farah. With the win, Murray became the first Scottish-born player to win the gentlemen's singles since Mahony in 1896. Hartley, champion in 1879 and 1880, was the only clergyman to ever win the tournament. Hamilton was champion in 1890, but was born in Kildare, Ireland. Doherty won the tournament every year between 1897 and 1900 and was born in the Wimbledon area.

17. In 1997 someone born outside of Great Britain won the domestic title. Who was this?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [5]

Answer: Greg Rusedski

Tennis player Greg Rusedski was born in Canada. His mother was British, which enabled him to take up British Citizenship in 1995. In 1997 he reached the finals of the US Open and the quarter finals of Wimbledon.

18. Fatima Whitbread won in 1987. In which discipline did she win a gold medal at the European Championships in Rome that year?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [4]

Answer: Javelin throw

Fatima had previously broken the world record by throwing 77.44 metres in a qualifying round for the 1986 European Championships in Athletics, where she also won a gold medal. She went on to win a silver medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

19. Virginia Wade won the title in 1977, after winning the Wimbledon Women's Singles. What was so significant about her win?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [3]

Answer: 1977 was the Queen's Silver Jubilee Year

Virginia Wade started playing tennis as a child. 1977 was also Wimbledon's centenary year. Virginia beat Betty Stove in the Wimbledon Final. Queen Elizabeth II had attended the final for the first time in 25 years and presented Virginia with the trophy. During her career, Virginia won seven grand slam finals in singles and doubles tournaments.

20. 1967 saw a heavyweight boxer win the title. This man fought Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) in 1963 and 1966, and very nearly achieved a knockout in their first match with Clay being literally saved by the bell. Who was he?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [2]

Answer: Henry Cooper & Cooper

Henry Cooper won the title in 1967 after being undefeated in all his fights that year. At one point he held the British, Commonwealth, and European Heavyweight titles. He also won three Lonsdale Belts. Muhammad Ali later described Cooper's punch as "being felt by my ancestors in Africa". Henry retired from professional boxing in 1971, after losing his titles to Joe Bugner in a heavily disputed match, which Bugner won by a quarter of a point. In the 1970s he became known for advertising Brut aftershave. He had a small role as Victorian boxer and MP Jack Gully in the 1975 film "Royal Flash". Always an absolute gentleman, he remains a popular public figure.

21. The 1957 winner hailed from Wales and captained Britain to win golf's Ryder Cup that year. Who was he?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [1]

Answer: Dai Rees

Dai Rees played in nine Ryder Cups between 1937 and 1961. The Ryder Cup first took place in 1927, and up until 1979 was played between the USA, Britain, and Ireland. The 1957 British win was the first since 1933, and also the last, as U.S. domination of the event led to the event being held between the USA and Europe from 1979.

22. Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton won the award in 2014 after winning his second Drivers' Championship that year. At which race did he seal his world title victory?

From Quiz A Decade Of...BBC Sports Personality Winners

Answer: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Hamilton led his teammate Nico Rosberg coming into the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, which utilised the extremely unpopular double points method, meaning Hamilton had to finish in the top two to guarantee his championship win. Ultimately, Hamilton won the race, sealing his second Drivers' Championship and his first since 2008. Hamilton ultimately ended the season on 384 points compared to Rosberg's 317. Hamilton received roughly a third of the popular vote, defeating golfer Rory McIlroy to the award. He became the first Formula One driver to win the award since Damon Hill in 1996.

23. Which teenage footballer won the title in 1998?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [5]

Answer: Michael Owen

Michael Owen first played for Liverpool at the age of eighteen. In his first full season of playing professionally (1997-1998) he tied for the position of the Premier League's top scorer. He also played for England in 1998, scoring two goals in the early rounds of the World Cup.

24. The winner in 1988 dominated snooker in the 1980s. Who is this 'interesting' person?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [4]

Answer: Steve Davis

Steve Davis won the Snooker World Championship for the fifth time in 1988, and went on to win it again the following year. He is credited with being the first person to become a millionaire through playing professional snooker. He was also the first person to make the first televised maximum 147 break. Steve's impassive impression and quiet manner when being interviewed led to him being labelled as boring. He received the ultimate accolade when he was immortalised as a "Spitting Images" puppet and given the ironic nickname of "Interesting".

25. Steve Ovett won the title in 1978. In which event did he win a Gold Medal at the 1978 European Championships at Prague?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [3]

Answer: 1500 metres

Steve Ovett also achieved silver for the 800 metres at the same event. He went on to win gold for the 800 metres and bronze for the 1500 metres in the 1980 Moscow Olympics. During his career he set world records in the 1500 metres and the mile.

26. David Hemery was the winner of the award in 1968, having won a gold medal at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. In which event did he win it?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [2]

Answer: 400m hurdles

David Hemery set a new world record of 48.12 seconds. He had previously won a gold medal for the 120-yard hurdles at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica.

27. How old was Ian Black when he won the award in 1958?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [1]

Answer: 17

Ian Black was born in Scotland in 1941. He won three gold medals for swimming in the European Championships in 1958, as well as gold and two silver medals in the Commonwealth Games.

28. Andy Murray won Sports Personality of the Year again in 2015 after leading Great Britain to Davis Cup glory. In the competition, Murray went 8-0 in singles. Who were the only two players to have achieved this in the Davis Cup World Group before?

From Quiz A Decade Of...BBC Sports Personality Winners

Answer: John McEnroe and Mats Wilander

Great Britain had previously defeated the United States 3-2, France 3-1 and Australia 3-2 to reach the final against Belgium, where Murray inspired Britain to a 3-1 victory. Murray won both of his singles rubbers in each round, making him the third man after McEnroe and Wilander to go 8-0 in singles rubbers in a World Group campaign. He also became the fourth player to go a combined 11-0 in singles and doubles matches. With this win, Murray won Sports Personality of the Year for a second time in three years, edging out rugby league star Kevin Sinfield in the public vote.

29. Nick Faldo won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award in 1989. He is most associated with which sport?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [4]

Answer: Golf

Nick Faldo won the US Masters in 1989, as well as the British Masters, the Volvo PGA Championship, the French Peugeot Open, and the Suntory World Match Play Championship. He started playing golf after watching it being played on TV. His professional career had lasted over 30 years, and in 2008 he captained the European side in the Ryder Cup.

30. A rare event happened in 1969. A Briton won the ladies single's at Wimbledon, virtually ensuring that she won the Sports Personality of the Year. Who was she?

From Quiz BBC Sports Personalities of the Year [2]

Answer: Ann Haydon Jones

Anne Haydon Jones had made the finals in 1967, but was beaten by Billie Jean King. She won the French Championships in 1961 and 1966, and was runner-up in the French Open in 1969.

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