It’s about this time that I ought to be penning Part 6 of my ‘Defining Success’ series, but so struck was I by the compulsion to support a previous guest that I’ve taken a brief detour. Don’t worry, I’ll be back on track shortly with my observations on selfish versus selfless, but for now there’s something at least more timely that needs our attention..

First of all a confession: I am biased. Yes you heard correctly, I admit it. You think that’s bad though, wait till you hear the rest of it. Not only am I just plain biased, but I am biased at the expense of Paralympic athletes: yes that’s right, I am overlooking someone with a disability in order to voice my support for someone able-bodied.

For those of you across the pond (and, in case you’re interested in stats, Google tells me my readership is almost exactly fifty-fifty, split either side of the Atlantic with a scattering across the rest of the globe – come on the other five continents, all welcome) here in Great Britain it’s that time of year where the BBC celebrates our Sports Personality of the Year, once abbreviated to SPOTY, this year sleekly rebadged SP14. Or perhaps that’s just Twitter. In any case it makes a nice hashtag. There is a shortlist of ten contenders (you can see the full list here) among whom, I’m honoured to say, is a previous guest on The Secrets of their Success, Lizzy Yarnold.

Lizzy is up against some stiff competition – we’re talking such vertiginous heights of sports achievement here as Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton, £85m Real Madrid signing Gareth Bale, world number one golfer and PGA/Open Champion Rory McIlroy…the list goes on. But here’s the thing: Sports Personality of the Year has to be all encompassing, surely? And it shouldn’t reflect unfairly those fortunate enough to excel in a sport more in the public eye than, say, Skeleton. Just because we’re not surrounded by broadcasts of Lizzy hurtling down an icy chute at 90mph, face inches above the hard, skin-stripping surface, doesn’t mean her talents are any less noteworthy. Let’s face it, she didn’t just win Olympic Gold at Sochi; she is also the reigning World Cup Champion. To explain: that entailed winning half of the races she entered and finishing on the podium in all but one. Sporting prowess: check.

So what about that second element – the personality bit? Fine: I give you an athlete who not only shines in front of the camera doing various presenting work, but who gives selflessly of her time to visit schools and encourage children to pursue their sporting destinies. And I’m not talking one or two appearances: there’s an actual feature on Lizzy’s website. You can click an option ‘School Tour’ and request a visit – and reading the testimonials it sounds like she’s a hit with the pupils. Not only that but Lizzy wields her status with responsibility. I remember a tweet from her regarding a photo of some female fashion models. We all know the controversy surrounding the image portrayed by models and I’m not going to get into that here, but in a nutshell there’s this tag that says ‘skinny is good.’ Lizzy, who of course has great muscle structure and who, as we’ve established, is a successful athlete, commented along the lines of, ‘They look undernourished to me.’ It was both funny and, frankly, encouraging. I’m not paraphrasing Lizzy here but to me it said, ‘Don’t stop eating, just work harder.’ Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that exactly the kind of salubrious message we ought to be spreading among the youth of today?

So that’s it right? Case made: vote Lizzy.

Well…it’s not quite so cut and dry. You see for one thing, I’m sure all the other contenders do their bit for society. And that sits just fine with me: I don’t know them, I’ve not featured them, so I can’t comment with such authority as I can with Lizzy. No, what I’m grappling with – ethically I mean – is that on the BBC’s prestigious list of ten is Alpine Ski duo Kelly Gallagher and Charlotte Evans. The reason they occupy a single spot is because Kelly is visually impaired and must ski at speeds of 60mph relying on instructions from her guide, Charlotte. And in case you think the BBC have included them as a nod to charity, a gesture to keep our disabled athletes happy – think again. Kelly and Charlotte not only won gold at Sochi, but became the first Winter Paralympic athletes from the UK to do so. They made history. Stop to imagine, for a second, hurtling down an Olympic ski run at the national speed limit (and yes, we’re talking something a little more extreme than the average blues and reds you might be familiar with from your annual skiing holiday) relying on a Bluetooth communication from someone a few metres ahead of you, telling you where and when the turns are because you can’t see them.

Now that is an achievement. That takes guts and determination. That takes personality.

Skim through the BBC’s list and you’ll read quotes from the contenders lauding either themselves or their achievements. What did Kelly say? “I can’t understate how hard it has been. It’s been horrible at times.” And yet she – and her guide Charlotte – persevered until they hit the very pinnacle of sporting achievement.

So here I am then, back to what I do: exploring success. Forget the other eight contenders, there isn’t time to comment on them one by one and I’m sure they will all be very well (and deservedly) represented when the public casts its votes. I have no problem in extolling the virtues of Lizzy Yarnold as a worthy title holder of Sports Personality of the Year 2014 because I genuinely think, having discussed her achievements with her, that she’s got all the right ingredients. And I am going to vote by the way – can’t sit back and talk about it without getting into the fray. But: for whom?

As I write this, I have no idea. I think you can tell that it will be either Lizzy or Kelly and Charlotte, but which of the two? And by voting for the Paralympic gold medallists, am I simply acceding to the demands of my conscience? I don’t think so. I think they’ve worked incredibly hard – I think if every able-bodied person worked that hard we’d have even more gold medal winners.

Then again, I’ve not hosted Kelly and Charlotte. I don’t know them. Lizzy was my guest here and come on, I admitted it in the third sentence: I am biased…

Let me know what you think. Who will you vote for? In any case good luck to all the contenders nominated for this year’s Sports Personality of the Year. You can vote on Sunday 14 December – details on how to register here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/sports-personality/30172271