GWENT stars Mark Williams and Joe Calzaghe missed out on becoming Wales' Sporting Personality of the Year last night.

Cycling ace Nicole Cooke just won with 30.7 per cent of the vote, narrowly beating Williams who has this year won the World and UK Championship titles.

Calzaghe came fifth with only 5.9 per cent of the vote but the WBO super-middleweight champion admitted that having boxed only two rounds all year, he didn't really deserve to win.

"I didn't think I'd win it and don't really feel as if I deserved to, having only fought once all year," said Calzaghe.

"2003 has been a bad year for me but hopefully I can have a great 2004 and get the fights I'm looking for."

Cooke becomes the first cyclist to win the title and also the youngest ever winner.

The Welsh ace, from Wick, Mid Glamorgan, bases herself near Treviso in Italy during the season and is also the first woman to win the title since Tanni Grey-Thompson in 2000.

The cyclist had quite some year coming third in the World Championships and also winning the women's Road Race World Cup, becoming the first Briton to do so. Cooke, who also trains in Newport's recently opened velodrome, was understandably shocked to win the award.

She said: "I'm still shaking and it's unbelievable to win this award. With cycling not being a main stream sport, I didn't expect to get that many votes.

"But as the night wore on, I was getting more and more votes and it started to become a real possibility.

"But then Mark Williams started to close so the final announcement was a bit nerve racking."

Cooke also wants the victory to make her a role model in the sport for children across Wales.

She added: "It's great for the sport and, when I was younger, I didn't really have any role models to look up to.

"But hopefully kids interested in cycling will have someone to look up to and I can become a role model and inspiration for them."

"But it's not only a great boost for the sport but is also a great opportunity for myself and I intend to grab it with both hands."

Other winners on the night were Cardiff City who won, the Team of the Year trophy, athlete Colin Jackson (Lifetime Achievement Award) and Nobby Woodcock from Bettws, Newport, who won the Unsung Hero award for his services to football.