Who has been nominated for SPOTY, and who is favourite to win this year’s prize?
SIX stars of British sport in 2019 are battling it out for this year’s Sports Personality of the Year award.
The shortlist has now been announced and the hopefuls will be announced at a lavish ceremony in Aberdeen on Sunday, December 15.
Garry Lineker, Gabby Logan and Clare Balding will be the hosts with proceedings underway at 7pm.
Who has been nominated for SPOTY?
Dina Asher-Smith (Athletics)
The fastest recorded British female sprinter of all time.
2019 was a huge year for Dina, who won THREE medals at the World Championships.
She smashed the national record in both the 100m and 200m, before rounding things off with a silver in the 4x100m.
Lewis Hamilton (Formula 1)
Britain’s F1 king was unstoppable again on the track this year.
Hamilton cruised to a sixth world title, putting him just one championship away from legend Michael Schumacher’s total of seven.
Lewis has been in the top-three for this award four times, memorably beating Rory McIlroy and Jo Pavey to win in 2014.
Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Athletics)
2019 was a real coming of age for Johnson-Thompson.
No longer living in the shadow of Jess Ennis, the Heptathlete dominated her event at the World Championship in Doha.
She took gold with a British record of 6981 point sand will now look forward to doing it all again at next summer’s Olympics.
Raheem Sterling (Football)
Sterling has carved out a key role in Pep Guardiola’s Man City, who dominated the domestic cups last season.
City racked up a famous treble, winning the Premier League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
Sterling pitched in with 25 goals in 51 games and was a key part of England’s Three Lions reaching Euro 2020.
Ben Stokes (Cricket)
England’s hero in the Cricket World Cup, it was a summer of redemption for Stokes.
The Durham-based star put his 2018 assault case behind him and let his cricket do the talking, becoming a national hero for his part in the dramatic super over win at Lord’s over New Zealand.
And if that wasn’t enough, he was at it again just a month later as he struck one of the greatest Test innings of all time against Australia at Headingley to keep the Ashes alive.
Alun Wyn Jones (Rugby Union)
So often the unsung hero of Welsh rugby, Jones was a key part of the Welsh’ success at Japan 2019.
Warren Gatland’s side were giants during the World Cup, falling just one game short of what would’ve been a monumental final against England.
Jones.
And in a year where he also skippered his country to a Six Nations Grand Slam, it was only fitting that he won the BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year 2019 last week.
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Who is favourite to win this year’s prize?
- Ben Stokes 1/7
- Dina Asher-Smith 12/1
- Lewis Hamilton 16/1
- Alun Wyn Jones 28/1
- Raheem Sterling 33/1
- Katrina Johnson-Thompson 100/1
*Odds correct at time of publication