Sports Awards: Radcliffe sweeps the poll for BBC award

The athlete Paula Radcliffe won the Sports Personality of the Year award on BBC's Sports Review of the Year last night. She scored an overwhelming victory in the viewers' poll, gaining 619,577 votes. England's football captain, David Beckham, was second with 113,539 votes, and the steeplechase jockey Tony McCoy third with 87,972 votes.

The 28-year-old athlete captured the public's imagination with a phenomenal season in which she retained her world cross country title in Dublin, won the London Marathon in April on her debut in the event, took the gold medal in the 5,000 metres in the Commonwealth Games in Manchester and added the 10,000m title in the European Championships. She wrapped up her year by cutting 89 seconds off the world marathon record with a time of 2hr 17min 18sec in Chicago.

Also in the running for the viewers' vote were the boxer Lennox Lewis and rugby union's Jonny Wilkinson.

A panel selected winners in other categories. The Team of the Year award went, not surprisingly, to the golfers of Europe's Ryder Cup team, captained by Sam Torrance.

The Coach of the Year was Arsène Wenger for guiding Arsenal to the Double last season.

The Young Sports Personality award went to Everton's 17-year-old Wayne Rooney, presumably on the back of the brilliant goal he scored against the Gunners. Ronaldo won the Overseas award, and George Best a special Lifetime award.

Jane Tomlinson, the cancer sufferer, who has raised huge amounts for research through running, won the Helen Rollason Memorial Award.