The final voting figures were:

Andy Murray 247,419
Alistair Brownlee 121,665
Nick Skelton 109,197
Mo Farah 54,476
Sophie Christiansen 37,284
Kate Richardson-Walsh 34,604
Max Whitlock 32,858
Laura Kenny 31,781
Jamie Vardy 25,020
Jason Kenny 12,376
Adam Peaty 11,129
Gareth Bale 10,786
Nicola Adams 7,812
Kadeena Cox 5,574
Sarah Storey 3,580
Danny Willett 2,227

Andy Murray maintained the streak of SPOTY going to an Olympic gold medallist every year of the Games since 2000. Each of those winners (Steve Redgrave, Kelly Holmes, Chris Hoy and Bradley Wiggins) quickly followed up by being knighted in the New Year Honours list, just as Murray has this time round.

Sir Andy was available at 10/1 available after Novak Djokovic was knocked out of Wimbledon and this formed the bulk of the site’s profit this year (the full betting breakdown can be found here).

It was only after the publicity that Brownlee received in September that Murray was briefly knocked off the top of the market. Gaining and maintaining the world number one spot then sealed the award for SAM.

A campaign once again had a big say in the final positions, with the equestrian and horse racing world pushing Skelton all the way on to the podium. His top 3 priced plunged from around 4/1 when the shortlist was announced to odds-on in the build up to the show.

The footballers, in particular Bale, struggled for support and again Farah missed the podium despite his achievements being arguably superior to anyone. Laura Kenny disappointed her backers. It may be that the British cycling controversies are having an impact here, as well as the possibility of cycling success getting a bit samey for voters.

The Olympics provides so many stories these days for British athletes and 2017 promises to be quieter. But that’s not to say there can’t be a fully competitive SPOTY market. The World Athletics Championships in London looks at this stage like it could be a key event to monitor.  Anthony Joshua, Murray and Ben Ainslie (his Land Rover BAR team are aiming to become the first British winners of the America’s Cup in June) are currently showing as the early favourites with the bookies.

I hope readers had a profitable 2016. I’ll be back on the site once the market warms up over the coming months. Until then – a happy and prosperous New Year to everyone.