The next sports personality on the list in this year's competition is Alistair Brownlee. The 28-year-old triathlete had another solid year, as he picked up wins in two ITU World Triathlon Series events, both in his home city of Leeds and Stockholm. He also won his second successive Olympic gold medal, beating his brother Jonny into second.

The Olympic triumph

By beating brother Jonny, Alistair became the first triathlete to ever retain the title at the Olympic Games. Speaking after the win, Brownlee admitted "I thought me and Jonny would be first and second but I didn't know which way round we would finish."

The Brownlee brothers have dominated the sport over the last few years and those comments show how confident Alistair is that he is, and can stay at the top of the sport.

Being the eldest of the brothers, Alistair may have peaked in terms of his ability to compete consistently for the biggest prizes in the sport. Of course, at the age of 28, the Olympic champion still has a few years left in him. However, with Tokyo 2020 making him 32, Brownlee may not be able to make it three from three in his hunt for gold medals.

Helping his brother out

If you happened to miss Brownlee's success in Rio during the Summer, it wouldn't be long until he was back in the spotlight after some fantastic sportsmanship during a triathalon in Mexico.

With about 700m of the event remaining, Jonny Brownlee was leading but starting to waver in the humid South American conditions. Clearly exhausted, his legs began to give way until Alistair caught up with him and helped him stagger towards the line.

Alistair sacrificed his chance of winning to ensure his brother made it over the finish line ahead of him. South African Henri Schoeman was the eventual winner, reversing the result in the Olympic Games.

This act of selflessness will have only furthered Brownlee's chances of being selected for Sports Personality of the Year.

Chances of winning?

The bookmakers have Brownlee as second favourite for the prestigious award but he is still way off Andy Murray in terms of betting odds, as the Scot is set to land another title.

However, Brownlee has a very good chance of being in the top three, alongside fellow athlete Mo Farah. The pair coming so close to receiving the award would cap what has been yet another golden year for the athletics.