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The new queen of British tennis emulated real-life royalty on Sunday night when she was crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
Following her fairytale of New York, Emma Raducanu replaced Princess Anne as the youngest woman to win the award in the show’s 67-year history.
The 19-year-old also became the first female to pick up the prestigious prize since Anne’s daughter, Zara Phillips, in 2006, and immediately received a congratulatory tweet from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Raducanu’s coronation was a strange and subdued affair as she was forced to collect a replica trophy alone in her hotel room in Abu Dhabi, where she is isolating after testing positive for Covid-19 this week.
Emma Raducanu was named the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year on Sunday night
The 19-year-old, who lives in Bromley, became the first female SPOTY winner since 2006
It meant her victory speech was delivered over Zoom at almost 1am in the United Arab Emirates.
‘To win, it’s really pretty amazing for me,’ said Raducanu. ‘I am really happy with this. I have always watched Sports Personality of the Year growing up, so I am really humbled to join the amazing past winners.
‘I am also very happy for British tennis that we were able to get this award again. Thank you so much to the voters and all of the fans for all of the support I have received this past year. It has been absolutely insane.’
Raducanu is the youngest SPOTY winner since another 19-year-old, Michael Owen, in 1998. She topped the public vote ahead of Olympic heroes Tom Daley and Adam Peaty, who finished second and third respectively.
Amazingly, when Lewis Hamilton won SPOTY 12 months ago, Raducanu was ranked 345th in the world and was still a sixth-form student at Newstead Wood School.
Raducanu, isolating after testing positive for Covid, accepted the award by video link
The Bromley teenager was the overwhelming favourite for the award – as short as 1-50 on with one bookies – after her jaw-dropping…
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Source : dailymail
