<Tr> <Th> Website </Th> <Td> www.bbc.co.uk/sport/sports-personality </Td> </Tr> <P> The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award is the main award of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony, which takes place each December . The winner is the sportsperson, judged by a public vote, to have achieved the most that year . The recipient must either be British or reside and play a significant amount of their sport in the United Kingdom . The winner is selected by a public - vote from a pre-determined shortlist . The most recent award winner is athlete Sir Mo Farah, who won in 2017 . </P> <P> Sports Personality of the Year was created by Paul Fox, who thought of the idea while he was editor of the magazine show Sportsview . The first award ceremony took place in 1954 as part of Sportsview, and was presented by Peter Dimmock . For the first show, votes were sent by postcard, and rules presented in a Radio Times article stipulated that nominations were restricted to athletes who had featured on the Sportsview programme since April . Approximately 14,500 votes were cast, and Christopher Chataway beat Roger Bannister to win the inaugural BBC Sportsview's Personality of the Year Award . </P> <P> Four people have won the award more than once: tennis player Andy Murray is the only person to have won the first place award three times (in addition to the Young Sports Personality and Team awards), while boxer Henry Cooper and Formula One drivers Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill have each won twice . Snooker player Steve Davis has finished in the top three a record five times . Jessica Ennis - Hill holds the record for most podiums without a win; having finished four times in the top three, after failing the make the shortlist for the 2016 award, having announced her retirement from athletics beforehand, Ennis - Hill is statistically the most successful sportsperson never to have won the award . In 2017 Ennis - Hill was awarded the Lifetime Achievement award . </P>

Who won the first bbc sports personality of the year