MACCLESFIELD sailor Ben Ainslie missed out on the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year award at the weekend.
Ainslie, who completed an historic haul of medals at this year’s Beijing Olympics, was among the 10-strong shortlist but didn’t poll enough telephone votes on Sunday night.
However, Ainslie remains a hero to those in his home town and his place among the elite of world and Olympic sailing.
The 31-year-old can console himself with the BBC South Presonality of the Year award, as well as his World and European titles, not to mention his three Olympic golds.
The 80-1 shot failed to make the top three, as gold medal winning swimmer Rebecca Adlington and F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton were pipped to the title by cycling star Chris Hoy.
The borough did have one athlete collecting an award at the event. as sprinting gold medallist Victoria Pendleton got her hands on one of the instantly recognisable trophies.
The Wilmslow-based track queen received the 2008 Team of the Year prize on behalf of the hugely successful squad that brought home eight gold medals from Beijing.
