Sports Personality: Team award for GB Olympic and Paralympic stars

Britain's Olympic and Paralympic squads have been named the team of the year at the BBC Sports Personality show after a record medal haul at London 2012.

The joint honour followed a memorable sporting summer which set new landmarks and saw the country celebrate a range of stirring triumphs.

Team GB won 65 medals, including 29 golds, while the Paralympians added 34 titles from a total of 120 medals.

Both squads finished third in the medal tables at their home Games.

Sir Roger Bannister, the first athlete to break the four-minute barrier for the mile, presented the award to Olympic track cycling gold medallist Victoria Pendleton.

"It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience," said Pendleton, who won two Olympic medals, including keirin gold.

"It's wonderful to be presented award for Team GB. There are so many people behind the scenes that helped get us to where we are."

Johnnie Peacock, Britain's T44 100m Paralympic champion, added: "It's not just about us who stand on podium, it's also about the support staff."

Britain's Olympic and Paralympic teams also won the BBC prize, which is decided by a panel of judges, in 2000.

Eight Olympic gold medallists and three Paralympic title winners made the 12-strong shortlist for the main Sports Personality of the Year award.

Team GB were only behind the United States and China in the Olympic medal table, finishing ahead of Russia.

Their best performance at a Games for more than a century brought 29 golds, 17 silvers and 19 bronzes.

It surpassed their total of 47 medals at the 2008 Beijing Games and the target of at least 48 set by UK Sport.

"This is our greatest performance of our greatest team at the greatest Olympics ever," said chef de mission Andy Hunt.

Great Britain won a record 120 Paralympic medals in London, up from 102 in Beijing - although the number of golds fell from 42 to 34, and with it came a drop from second to third in the medals table.

The success of ParalympicsGB contributed to what was hailed as one of the best Games for disabled athletes.

Organising committee chairman Lord Coe said Britain would "never think of sport the same way and we will never think of disability the same way".

"The Paralympians have lifted the cloud of limitation," he added.