VOTE Jess Ennis, says ex Sports Personality winner Dorothy Hyman - VIDEO
GOLDEN girl Jess Ennis has every right to feel a nervous excitement about the chances of being crowned Sports Personality of the Year, says Dorothy Hyman.
And the 68-year-old should know.
For Dorothy, South Yorkshire's Olympic sprint legend, lifted the trophy of all time greats back in 1963 - the year after she was runner up.
She was the fastest woman on the planet at the time.
VIDEO: Click the play button to watch our video chat in full with South Yorkshire's former Sports Personality of the Year winner Dorothy Hyman.
MORE VIDEO: Get a sneak preview of the stage set design for Sunday's big event and watch our interviews with presenter Jake Humphrey, editor Carl Doran and Sheffield's Olympic diving hero Leon Taylor - CLICK HERE.
Dorothy Hyman won the 100-meters silver and 200-meters bronze at the Rome Olympics, in 1960. She also won a 4x100meters team relay bronze four years later, in Tokyo.
She also has gold and silver medals from the Commonwealth Games and European Championships.
Arguably Britain's best ever female sprinter, she even has stadiums named after her in her home village of Cudworth and neighbouring Wombwell, Barnsley.
But, in typical modest style, she has almost faded away into the background of the athletics world.
Today she gave a rare interview with The Star to call on sports fans in South Yorkshire and beyond to vote on Sunday night for Jess Ennis.
"I think Jessica Ennis could win it - and she certainly might be in the top three. She needs votes. Everybody , everywhere, especially in South Yorkshire, needs to get voting,'' said Dorothy, who will be attending the ceremony with proud niece, Kate Parsons, 15.
She has advice for Jess, in final preparation for the event live on BBC1, Sunday, December 13, 7pm to 9pm.
"It's a bit tense. You have just got to think you are part of the whole performance - because if you start to think, oh...if I win, what am I going to say? Well, there's a lot of tension when you are sat there.
"And you definitely don't know if you've won it or not. There's no way you know.
"Jessica is like me. She isn't over confident. She's a very modest girl. So I would think she's not expecting to win it, because of the other people who are up for it.
"But she could well win it. It's in Sheffield and there will be a lot of local interest. I would like to see her win. She's a lovely girl.
"I've met her once a few years ago, at the Yorkshire Championships. I was very impressed. She's so modest. And watching her on television now, she's not altered. She still comes across as a very nice girl.
"It would be great for South Yorkshire. It would put Jessica up there and give young people an incentive to get into sport - to think perhaps they could get there. And particularly with Jessica, because she comes across as such an ordinary girl, from an ordinary background. So anybody can do it, with support from family and friends.
"It was very special to win. Next to the winning performances, which got you the trophy, it must come a close second.
"There are other sports personality competitions but this is the big one - because it's voted for by the general public and it covers all sports. There were people I was in awe at and I came above them. Yes, it was amazing."
She hopes the excellent sporting facilities in Sheffield and the region will help to create more champions - including medal winners at the London 2012 Olympics. But she warns that too much pressure on success can be a "terrible burden" on athletes.
Times have changed since Dorothy won the Sports Personality of the Year trophy. Unlike modern day multi-millionaire winners such as David Beckham, Lennox Lewis and Joe Calzaghe, she went back to her day job when she won. She worked in the local National Coal Board offices, where she proudly took the trophy to show colleagues.
"I look where modern winners are and I'm still living an ordinary life. I could say, 'what went wrong'? But nothing went wrong because I'm very happy with my life and I've enjoyed it so far," she said
"We all have regrets and wonder what might have happened if we had taken another direction, but generally I'm very happy with my lot and content,'' said Dorothy, who rates Steve Redgrave and Kelly Holmes as her all personal all time favourite winners of the trophy.
Dorothy did have the stadiums named after her and, if Jessica wins, she believes she should be honoured in some way.
"There should at least be some sort of trophy for young people in her name,'' she told the Star, at her home in Stairfoot, Barnsley.
"I don't go very often the stadium in Cudworth. But I'm very proud it's there, helping to encourage sport. It was named after me when I was younger and I didn't think much about it. But as I've got older it's become really special.
"One day I was going to there and I was walking past the bus stop, with some ladies standing there. I said hello. And they said, 'that girl never alters'. And it really made my day."
For full coverage of the Sports Personality of the Year event, including words, photos and exclusive backstage video, see The Star on Monday, December 14, 2009.
VIDEO: Dorothy Hyman winning the 1962 Commonwealth 100 yards in 11.2
VIDEO: Dorothy Hyman wins silver in the 1960 Rome Olympics Women's 100m Dash
MORE VIDEO: Lord Sebastian Coe's former Tapton School, in Sheffield, is producing more sporting champions of the future. They got their hands on the Sports Personality of the Year Trophy, thanks to The Star. Full story and video interviews - CLICK HERE.
MORE VIDEO: Watch Adidas makeover fashion tips with Jess Ennis - CLICK HERE.
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