Josh Kerr’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year omission is defended by their director of sport, Barbara Slater, who insists ‘we are going to have worthy people who just fall short’
- Men's 1500m world champion Josh Kerr has missed out on the SPOTY shortlist
- The BBC's sporting director Barbara Slater has defended his absence
- The 26-year-old will still be present at the awards ceremony on Tuesday
The BBC's sporting director has defended Josh Kerr's omission from the Sports Personality of the Year shortlist.
World 1500m champion Kerr was overlooked as one of six contenders for the trophy, which will be decided in a public vote on Tuesday evening.
World Athletics chairman and 1979 SPOTY winner Seb Coe was among those who criticized the Scot's criticism.
But Barbara Slater, chair of the 12-strong shortlisting panel, told Mail Sport: 'We always have people we would like to put on the list but we can't. We had so many world champions. We had Jake Jarman in gymnastics, Matt Richards in swimming, where do you draw the line?
'There will be some who won't make it. Even when we expanded the list, it didn't eliminate the problem.
Josh Kerr missed out on the six-person shortlist for the BBC Sports Personality of Year
The BBC's sporting director Barbara Slater has defended the 26-year-old's omission
'The criterion is sporting performance, but also impact. The panel will have a robust debate and a lot of focus will be placed on advocating one person over another.
“But the truth is, we're going to have worthy people who just fall short.
'The program has a special place in the hearts of the British public. It's just as relevant. You just have to look at the centimeters of the column.'