PARIS (AFP) – Britain’s four-time Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah was named BBC sports personality of the year for the first time on Sunday, edging out motorcycling champion Jonathan Rea to the award.
Farah, 34, successfully defended his 10,000-meter title at the World Championships in August, although he missed out on another distance double after taking silver in the 5,000m.
He retired from the track later that same month to focus on road racing and has said he could run the marathon at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Farah earned 83,524 votes – 2,957 more than Northern Irishman Rea, who became the first rider to win three consecutive World Superbike titles, while double Paralympic champion Jonnie Peacock came third.
Roger Federer was voted BBC overseas sports personality of the year for a record fourth time earlier in the week after an astonishing season during which he picked up two more Grand Slam titles.
Heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua, the bookies’ favorite to land the prize, finished fourth in a year that saw the 28-year-old defeat Ukraine’s Wladimir Klitschko in an epic world title fight.
