MARATHON runner Helen Decker was handed a Commonwealth Games boost when she was crowned Sports Personality of the Year at last night’s Ipswich Sports Awards.

MARATHON runner Helen Decker was handed a Commonwealth Games boost when she was crowned Sports Personality of the Year at last night’s Ipswich Sports Awards.

Decker, who is due to fly out to India on Monday, won the coveted award from an exceptional eight-strong short-list that included four candidates selected to compete in the Commonwealth Games which get under way this weekend.

Ipswich JAFFA member Decker said of her award: “It is a nice send-off and an extra confidence boost.

“I am delighted to win it, especially considering the amazing competition I was up against.”

Turning her attention to competing in India, Decker said: “I have not set myself a time goal. It is a race at the end of the day, so I am just going to try to run a great race and beat as many people as I can.

“A lot will depend on the conditions and I will assess how I run on the day. If it is hot and humid I will have to run a more conservative race to make the distance like I did in Barcelona.”

Besides her Commonwealth Games selection 2010 has seen Decker finish third British woman in the London Marathon and win a bronze medal at the European Championships in Barcelona when the Great Britain women’s team finished third in the European Marathon Cup in July.

Also short-listed for the Sports Personality of the Year in the Team Ipswich awards were archer Nicky Hunt and swimmer Chris Walker-Hebborn, who are both already in Delhi, and tennis player Elena Baltacha, who was due to represent Scotland but has had to withdraw.

The four other candidates were BMX champion Ria Goodman, handball international Louise Jukes, golfer Jamie Abbott, who qualified for this year’s Open at St Andrew’s, and moto-cross star Jake Nicholls. who has just returned from the USA, where he was representing Great Britain in the Moto-cross des Nations.