McCoy reflects on BBC award Tony McCoy has reflected on his "unbelievable" victory in the race to be crowned the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. The 36-year-old became the first jockey to claim the title after securing 293,152 votes, 41% of the overall total of 698,242, on Sunday evening. McCoy finished ahead of darts star Phil Taylor and heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis to be awarded the famous trophy at the climax of the annual review of the sporting year, which took place at Birmingham's LG Arena. "It's amazing," said McCoy. "To be in a room with as many sports stars as there was last night was amazing in itself, but to win such a prestigious trophy was very surreal and an unbelievable feeling. "It's amazing to be the first jockey to actually receive the award, (particularly) when I think of how many wonderful jockeys there have been ahead of me "We certainly don't count ourselves as sports stars by any means, so for those obvious reasons it's very flattering to be the first winner of the award." McCoy's title tops a landmark year for the jockey after he finally tasted victory aboard Don't Push It in the John Smith's Grand National at the 15th attempt. "It was something a lot of people have talked about," McCoy told BBC Breakfast. "As a boy you try to achieve something and when you haven't done it, you want it even more. "I was lucky this year that was put right and the Grand National would be the most famous horse race in the world and winning it was the crowning of my career really." McCoy is already a 15-times champion jockey and while he admits he is in the twilight of his career, he is far from ready to hang up his boots yet. "I really enjoy what I do and I love doing it, hopefully I can keep going a bit longer yet. I'm well aware there is a lot more of my career behind me than there is in front of me, but hopefully I'll be able to enjoy it for a bit yet," he said. "When I was a kid growing up, all I wanted to do was work with horses and ride the horses and I think like any jockey or anyone in the business, they're in it because of the love of the animals and they are something that we couldn't do without. "I would also like to congratulate the other nine nominees who are amazing sports people in their own right and very much winners in my eyes."
