At the recent BBC Sports Personality show, dubbed the SPOTY’s, Alistair Brownlee joined 11 fellow Team GB Olympians and Paralympians on stage to receive the Team of the Year award. Together, the group accepted the award from sporting legend Sir Roger Bannister, who is famous for becoming the first athlete to break the four-minute barrier in the mile.
Great Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic Teams were given the award after their phenomenal performances on home soil in London this summer. Both teams finished third in the overall rankings. Only the United States and China beat out Team GB in the Olympic medal charts, while only China and Russia ranked ahead of Great Britain’s Paralympians.
Great Britain tallied 65 medals, 29 of them gold at the Olympics, while Paralympians racked up 34 wins and a total of 120 medals.
Great Britain’s Olympic triathletes Alistair, Jonathan Brownlee, Stuart Hayes, Helen Jenkins, Lucy Hall and Vicky Holland played a big part in their National Olympic Committee’s success. The Brownlees were responsible for Great Britain’s first ever triathlon medals and Jenkins posted the highest ever Olympich finish for a British female.
Watch the video of the Alistair and Team GB Olympians accepting the award here.