Mboma wins top BBC award

Mboma (centre) is our ninth African star of the year

BBC African Service listeners have voted Cameroon's Italy-based striker Patrick Mboma as the African Sports Personality of the Year 2000.

The 30-year-old Parma striker got the largest number of the listeners' votes ahead of Ethiopian long distance runner Haile Gebreselassie and Mozambique Olympic gold medallist Maria Mutola from Mozambique.

Mboma helped Cameroon win the Olympic gold and the Cup of Nations

Mboma captained Cameroon to win the gold medal at the Sydney Olympics Games after the Indomitable Lions triumphed in the African Cup of Nations in a dramatic shoot-out against Nigeria.

The BBC award comes soon after Mboma was also voted the 2000 African Player of the Year by the Confederation of African Football.

  Previous BBC African Sport Stars

1992: Abedi Pele

1993: Frank Fredericks

1994: Zambian team

1995: George Weah

1996: E Ammunike

1997: Nwankwo Kanu

1998: Haile Gebreselassie

1999: Nwankwo Kanu

Second in the competition is Ethiopia's Haile Gebreselassie, who won this award in 1998 and is always a big favourite.

Gebreselassie retained his 10,000 metre Olympic title in Sydney.

In third place was the "Maputo Express" Maria Mutola, who won the 1500 metres Olympic Gold in Sydney.

It was Mozambique's first ever Olympic gold medal.

Ghana's Abedi Pele won our first award in 1992

The BBC African Sports Star medal is to be presented to Patrick Mboma at his Italian base in Parma.

Previous winners of the award, which was created by popular request in 1992, include Abedi Pele of Ghana, Frankie Fredericks of Namibia, the Zambian national football team, George Weah of Liberia, Nwankwo Kanu of Nigeria, and Haile Gebreselassie of Ethiopia.