Jessica Ennis came third in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards, which took place in Sheffield on Sunday.

The heptathlon champion ditched her women's sportswear for the night in favour of a black sequinned gown, but was beaten to first and second place by Ryan Giggs and Jenson Button.

Ennis received 80,469 votes for the title, according to the BBC, but Manchester United midfielder Giggs was the winner with a massive 151,842 votes.

Giggs was surprised to win the award. "This is a shock as you can tell by the speech I prepared," he said.

Ennis became World Heptathlon Champion this year with 6,731 points, which is also her personal best.

Last month the 23-year-old won the Ultimate Sports Star Award at Cosmopolitan magazine's Ultimate Women of the Year Awards, which took place in Banqueting House in Whitehall, London.

Alesha Dixon, one of the judges, said: "Jessica is a big inspiration to British girls and we're sure the winning sports star will do us proud at the 2012 Olympics."

Posted by Tina Wilson. ADNFCR-2569-ID-19512586-ADNFCR

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