British number one tennis player Greg Rusedski won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year last night following his rise to prominence on the world stage. Rusedski was runner-up at the US Open and a Wimbledon quarterfinalist who rose as high as number four in the world rankings.

Fellow tennis star Tim Henman, who also reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, finished second in the viewers' voting, while four times Olympic rowing gold medallist Steven Redgrave came third.

Martina Hingis was honoured as the BBC's Overseas Personality of the Year, adding her name to a long list of tennis players who had previously won the award. The 17-year-old Swiss ace captured three Grand Slam events in a season which catapulted her to the world number one ranking.

Manager Fran Cotton and his British and Irish Lions were named Team of the Year after their thrilling series victory against the Springboks on their tour of South Africa last summer. Seve Ballesteros was honoured for leading Europe in their successful defence of the Ryder Cup when they beat the Americans 14 1/2 13 1/2 at Valderrama. Spain's Ballesteros, captain of the team and a three-time winner of the British Open and two-time winner of the US Masters, was given a special award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to European golf over the last 20 years.