| SPOTY | Lewis Hamilton | Formula One |
| Team of the Year | England women's team | Rugby Union |
| Coach of the Year | Paul McGinley | Golf |
| Overseas SPOTY | Cristiano Ronaldo | Football |
| Young SPOTY | Claudia Fragapane | Gymnastics |
| Lifetime Achievement | Sir Chris Hoy | Cycling |
| Unsung Hero | Jill Stidever | Swimming |
| Helen Rollason Award | Invictus Games competitors | Various |
FORMULA ONE world champion Lewis Hamilton won the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year award in a star-studded show at the SSE Hydro arena in Glasgow.
Hamilton had been a SPOTY runner-up in 2007 and 2008, having won his first world crown in the latter year.
But this time he finished in his more familiar position of first, with 209,920 (34%) of the 620,932 votes cast.
That was enough to beat pre-show odds-on favourite, world number one golfer Rory McIlroy, while third place went to athlete Jo Pavey.
In fairness to him, McIlroy could not have done much more to win the annual award, having triumphed in two of golf's four majors before playing a leading role in Europe easily retaining the Ryder Cup.
McIlroy should not despair, however. Perhaps he will win SPOTY next year having completed his very own "Rory Slam" by taking the first two major titles of 2015.
Third-placed Pavey had the most engaging human interest story of the year. Aged 40, and a mother of two, the Devonian won the first major title of her career in taking 10,000m gold at the European Championships in Zurich.
In doing so, she became the oldest female to win a gold medal in the history of the championships, and - for good measure - added a bronze in the 5000m in the Commonwealth Games.
Nevertheless, Hamilton's season-long title tussle with Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg also really captured the public attention.
Flashpoints in Monaco, Hungary and Belgium culminated in a final race in the United Arab Emirates where the controversial double points ruling had kept Rosberg's challenge alive.
But, as a result of Hamilton's brilliant start and Rosberg's subsequent mechanical problems, the much-anticipated Duel in the Desert never materialised - and so the Englishman became just the 16th man to win multiple world titles.
On the way, he had picked up 11 Grand Prix victories, taking his overall total to 33, more than any other British racer.
And it was clear, just a few weeks ago, exactly how much his second world title had meant to him.
He said at the time: "2008 was a great year in my life. The feeling I have now is way, way past that. The greatest feeling ever."
On Sunday, he was similarly unable to express just how much the award meant to him.
"I want to say a huge thank you to all the people who called in, I really wasn't expecting it," he said. "I am so speechless. I'm so proud and honoured to be among such great sporting talent."
Other awards
Meanwhile, Sir Chris Hoy carried off arguably the biggest prize of the night, a Lifetime Achievement award, in a worthy acknowledgement of Britain's most successful Olympian.
The Scot, who claimed the main SPOTY prize in 2008 following a hat-trick of golds at the Beijing Olympics, won six Olympic titles overall.
And he was clearly emotional as he picked up his trophy in Glasgow last night.
"I never thought I'd see my name alongside Sir Steve Redgrave, David Beckham and Seve Ballesteros," he said, before adding: "I became a dad eight weeks ago. He was in hospital for eight weeks and finally came out last week and we got him home.
"I'm sure he'll be watching it on telly."
Unusually, the triumphant European Ryder Cup squad did not win the Team of the Year - although it was difficult to argue against the actual winners, the England women's rugby union team, who won the World Cup in August.
Instead, the Ryder Cup golfers gained representation in the ceremony through Paul McGinley, the 48-year-old Irishman becoming the first golf coach to win in this category.
The Overseas SPOTY was always likely to go to a footballer in World Cup year - but, ultimately, the month-long extravaganza in Brazil had little effect in the outcome.
For, while Portugal went out as early as England, their talisman Cristiano Ronaldo had a marvellous individual year, hitting 51 goals in 2013-14 as his club Real Madrid won a record 10th European Cup.
Meanwhile, the first award presented on the night - the Young Sports Personality of the Year - went to 17-year-old gymnast Claudia Fragapane.
She became the first Englishwoman to win four golds at a single Commonwealth Games in 84 years and celebrated with a SPOTY selfie on Twitter.
Finally, in terms of the other two awards: 77-year-old swimming coach Jill Stidever took the Unsung Hero prize for dedicating her life to helping thousands of children with special needs.
And the Helen Rollason award - for athletes who have shown "outstanding achievement in the face of adversity" - went to all of the inaugural Invictus Games competitors.
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