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HOME >> Sport >> 1982 Champion Decathlete Daley Thompson Awarded BBC Sports Personality of the Year
1982 Champion Decathlete Daley Thompson Awarded BBC Sports Personality of the Year
Thompson was the first Decathlete to be awarded the accolade.
He was often at the centre of controversy and, in the same year as winning the BBC’s coveted award, he refused to carry the British flag during the opening of the Commonwealth Games, arguing that participation in the 4 1/2hr event would lessen his chances of winning.
At the award ceremony itself, Thompson uttered an obscenity during his acceptance speech, which caused mild outcry in the press but did not prevent him from being awarded an OBE two years later and a CBE in 2000.
He will forever be remembered as a one of the world’s finest athletes who transformed the decathlon from an obscure event into one of national and international significance. He won two gold medals fro the event at the Olympics and broke the world record four times.
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