William Hill Sportswoman Of The Year 2012 Winner

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Published on Wednesday, 02 January 2013 14:26

Written by Steve Pitcher-Cumming

Jess Ennis Crowned The William Hill Sportswoman Of The Year 2012!

Jessica Ennis has received many plaudits and awards for her magical success at London 2012, but the vast majority of these have been from experts.

William Hill initiated their Sportswoman of the Year in 2011, when top jockey Hayley Turner landed the
inaugural prize.

This time around, the William Hill short-list was decided by William Hill followers on Facebook. With almost 500,000 people following William Hill, this gave a genuinely representative short-list of top women in sport.

The short-list was then presented to the public vote online and via the 2,370 shops in the UK. The vote closed on Sunday 2nd December and Jessica Ennis was the unanimous winner. In total over 25,000 votes were collected and Jessica Ennis got more than 45% of the public vote.

"The William Hill Sportswoman of the Year worked wonderfully well in its first year in 2011 and we have managed to build on that success this time around with a truly spectacular short-list, thanks to our brilliant Olympic success. This award stands out from most of the others as it is purely down to the public to decide who is the best. It will be interesting now to see how Jessica does in the BBC Sports Personality later in the month." said William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams.

William Hill will present Jessica Ennis with a special trophy, and she will receive a VIP trip to the William Hill King George at Kempton on Boxing Day, plus a £1,000 free bet on the big race.

Latest betting from William Hill on the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year 2012:
1/3 Bradley Wiggins, 11/2 Mo Farah, 9/1 Jessica Ennis, 10/1 Andy Murray, 33/1 David Weir, 50/1 Ellie Simmonds, 100/1 Rory Mcllroy, 125/1 Sir Chris Hoy, 125/1 Ben Ainslie, 200/1 Nicola Adams, 200/1 Katherine Grainger, 200/1 Sarah Storey.

About the award:

The William Hill Sports Woman of the Year was introduced in 2011 to celebrate female achievement in sport in a year when the BBC did not include a single female sportsperson in their shortlist of ten. William Hill customers got right behind the award and after 46,662 votes were counted Hayley Turner was crowned the victor with 11,135 votes, just 165 ahead of Jess Ennis.

"One of my 2011 highlights was winning the William Hill Sportswoman of the Year. I am still touched that so many people voted for me and the icing on the cake was winning my free bet. I backed Kauto Star to win the William Hill King George and donated my £3,500 to the charity The Headway Brain Injury Association in Cambridge," said 2011 winner Hayley Turner. She added "Awards such as this are very important for highlighting the quality of women's sport in Britain and I hope you find the time to vote for the 2012 contenders."