The 71st annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year award will be presented on Tuesday, with the great and good of British and international sport expected to attend the ceremony in Salford.
Lionesses's goalkeeper Mary Earps took the prize last year, succeeding teammate Beth Mead, but in an Olympic year, it is hard to look past those who starred in Paris.
Darts star Luke Littler has a live chance, albeit he may have benefited if the vote had happened after the upcoming PDC World Championships.
He is second in the betting, while footballer Jude Bellingham also features. However, it appears unlikely that anyone other than athlete Keely Hodgkinson will be walking away with the famous tripod trophy.
- KEELY HODGKINSON OUTRIGHT
- JOE ROOT OUTRIGHT E/W
Hodgkinson Striding Away From The Field
Triathlete Alex Yee is third in the market behind second-place Littler, but 800m golden girl Hodgkinson is way ahead and she is so far clear it is worth looking across the markets to search for the best price possible, albeit still expect long odds-on.
A silver medalist in Tokyo in 2021, the same colour medal may have hurt at last year's Worlds in 2023 but she made no secret of her belief that she could win gold in Paris.
Beating her own national record at the Diamond League meeting in London the month before heading across the Channel further boosted her public profile.
However, it is the sight of the 22-year-old striding away from the field after leading the race out from the front that is imprinted on the public consciousness, while she further endeared herself with her post-race emotions that showed just how much it meant to her.
Atherton-born Hodgkinson will have a significant local following in Salford and is well-known in the community for her local work and down-to-earth nature.
With her best days still to come, being crowned Sports Personality of the Year on Tuesday could be the latest brilliant moment in her young career.
KEELY HODGKINSON OUTRIGHT
Root Worth An Each-Way Look
Recency bias can play a part in SPOTY voting and England playing New Zealand in the final Test, which starts late on Friday UK time, could help his chances.
Last year, former colleague Stuart Broad was second behind footballer Earps, while Ben Stokes, runner-up in 2022, was the most recent cricketer to win the gong following his dual World Cup and Ashes heroics in 2019.
Stepping away from the Test captaincy in 2022 has given Root a fresh lease of life and he overtook Sir Alastair Cook as England's highest Test run-scorer of all time on the third day of the first Test in Pakistan in October.
His incredible first innings 262, a career-best, was overshadowed by Harry Brook's 317 but it still saw him become the first England player to reach 20,000 international runs across all formats.
The 33-year-old played his 150th Test in the opening match in New Zealand and grabbed his 36th century in the longest format during the second match in Wellington.
Century number 37 would be timely ahead of Tuesday's ceremony and if each-way terms are available, he is worth consideration.
JOE ROOT OUTRIGHT E/W
