Zara Phillips, U.K. Royal, Wins BBC Sports Personality of Year

Expat Village is edited and published by Iain Williams in Caracas, Venezuela.

A Bloomberg story by James Cone at www.bloomberg.com

Zara Phillips, winner of the World Equestrian Games' three-day eventing title, was voted the British Broadcasting Corp.'s sports personality of the year, joining her mother, Princess Anne.

Phillips held off strong competition to claim the prestigious award

Phillips, 25, granddaughter of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and 11th in line to the throne, wins the U.K.'s most prestigious annual sporting honor 35 years after Princess Anne earned a European title and the BBC prize for her horsemanship.

Phillips claimed individual gold on her horse, Toytown, at the games in Germany in August to add to the European crown she already held. Her performance also helped Britain take second spot in the team event.

``To win this is absolutely amazing,'' Phillips said at today's televised show from Birmingham, England.

Ryder Cup golfer Darren Clarke was second and world champion gymnast Beth Tweddle was third in a public vote by telephone and text message.

There were no soccer or rugby players among the final 10 nominees, while England cricketer Monty Panesar's chances of claiming the prize were harmed by his omission from the opening two Ashes Tests against Australia.

In other awards today, rugby league team St. Helens was named team of the year for winning the Challenge Cup and the Super League Grand Final, and its coach, Daniel Anderson, was coach of the year.

Arsenal forward Theo Walker, who was picked for the England World Cup soccer squad and never got on the field, was named the young sports personality of the year.

Top-ranked tennis player Roger Federer was voted overseas personality. Federer, from Switzerland, won 59 percent of the poll and No. 1-ranked golfer Tiger Woods got 41 percent.

Bjorn Borg, the 11-time Grand Slam tennis champion, received the lifetime achievement award.

Expat Village is edited and published by Iain Williams in Caracas, Venezuela.

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