BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year

BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year Award
CountryUnited Kingdom
Presented byBBC Sports Personality of the Year
Formerly calledBBC Sports Personality of the Year Newcomer Award
First awarded1999; 25 years ago (1999)
Most recent winnerLuke Littler (2024)

The BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year[1] award is presented at the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year award ceremony. It is awarded to the sportsperson aged 17 or under as of 1 January of that year, who has made the most outstanding contribution to sport in that year. Nominees have to be British citizens or are residents who "play a significant amount of their sport in the UK" with their solo "core achievements" being undertaken in the UK.[2] As of 2024, nominations are put forward by a judging panel which includes representatives from the BBC, Youth Sport Trust, a Blue Peter presenter, a young Blue Peter "guest" judge and sporting talent who then decide on a ten-person shortlist. The panel later reconvenes to choose the top three, and decides on the winner by secret ballot.[2]

The BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award was preceded by the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Newcomer Award, in which the recipients could be aged up to 25. Decathlete Dean Macey was the inaugural winner of the Newcomer Award in 1999, and racing driver Jenson Button was the second and last winner the following year. In 2001, the award was replaced by the Young Sports Personality of the Year,[3] and sprinter Amy Spencer was the first recipient of that award. The only person to win the award more than once is diver Tom Daley, who won the award three times, in 2007, 2009, and 2010.[4] The most recent award was presented in 2024 to darts player Luke Littler.

Winners

Jenson Button was the last recipient of the Newcomer Award in 2000.
Wayne Rooney won the award in 2002.
Andy Murray won the award in 2004.
2017 recipient Phil Foden.
Jessica Gadirova won the award in 2022.

Newcomer Award

Year Winner Age when awarded Sport Rationale Note
1999 Dean Macey 21 Athletics For "a string of stunning performances in the decathlon" and a "rise to prominence at [the 1999] World Championship"[5][6] [7]
2000 Jenson Button 20 Formula One For finishing "in eighth place in his debut Formula One World Championship season"[8] [9]

Young Personality Award

Year Winner Age when awarded Sport Rationale Note
2001 Amy Spencer 16 Athletics For being "world under-18 silver medallist in the 100m and 200m, despite still having two years left in the age group"[10] [11]
2002 Wayne Rooney 17 Football For being "touted by many as the most promising English football talent to have surfaced in recent years"[12] [13]
2003 Kate Haywood 17 Swimming For becoming the "youngest ever swimmer to represent England at the 2002 Commonwealth Games winning a bronze in the 4x100m medley relay" and for "clinching gold in the 50m breaststroke at the European Junior Championships"[14] [15]
2004 Andy Murray 17 Tennis For making "giant strides in the world of tennis in the past 12 months, during which time he won the US Open juniors title"[16] [17]
2005 Harry Aikines-Aryeetey 17 Athletics For becoming the "first sprinter in the six-year history of the IAAF World Youth Championships to win gold in both the 100m and 200m"[18] [19]
2006 Theo Walcott 17 Football For a "fantastic year in which he transferred to Arsenal and went to the World Cup with England"[20] [21]
2007 Tom Daley 13 Diving For "achievements in diving which include becoming the youngest-ever National Men's Platform Champion"[22] [23]
2008 Eleanor Simmonds 14 Swimming For becoming "Britain's youngest ever individual Paralympic gold medallist"[24] [25]
2009 Tom Daley 15 Diving For winning the men's 10 m platform event at the world championships, and becoming "Britain's youngest world champion in any sport".[26] [27]
2010 Tom Daley 16 Diving For winning two gold medals in the 2010 Commonwealth Games [28]
2011 Lauren Taylor 17 Golf Youngest-ever winner of the Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship, breaking a 112-year record [29]
2012 Josef Craig 15 Swimming Winner of gold medal in the Paralympic 400 metre freestyle S7. Youngest British winner of a gold medal at the 2012 Paralympics. [30]
2013 Amber Hill 16 Shooting Youngest winner of a senior World Cup in skeet shooting. Finished the season ranked number one senior in Great Britain and ranked fifth in the world. [31]
2014 Claudia Fragapane 17 Artistic gymnastics Won four gold medals to become the most successful English woman at the Commonwealth Games in 84 years, before reaching three individual finals at her first World Championships. [32]
2015 Ellie Downie 17 Artistic gymnastics Won a bronze medal to become the first woman to win an all-around senior international medal for Great Britain at the European Championships. Helped Great Britain to an unprecedented bronze medal in the Women's Team competition at the World Championships. [32]
2016 Eleanor Robinson 15 Swimming Won a gold medal S6 50m butterfly category with a Games record and a bronze medal in the S6 100m Freestyle category at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games [33]
2017 Phil Foden 17 Football Won the Golden Ball as the best player at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup as England won the tournament.

[34]

2018 Kare Adenegan 17 Wheelchair racing Broke T34 100m world record, and won European Championships [35]
2019 Caroline Dubois 18 Boxing Won 40 consecutive boxing matches [36]
2020 Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix 16 Diving Won her first senior international gold medal and the senior British title in the women's 10 m platform event [37]
2021 Sky Brown 13 Skateboarding Became the youngest ever British Summer Olympian at the age of 13 by winning the bronze medal at the Women's park Skateboarding competition in the 2020 Summer Olympics [38]
2022 Jessica Gadirova 18 Artistic gymnastics Became the fifth individual British world champion gymnast in history and the first British woman to win a world all-around medal. Also won her second European gold. [39]
2023 Mia Brookes 16 Snowboarding Became the youngest ever Snowboard World Champion at the Bakuriani World Championships, also becoming the first Brit to win a snowboard slopestyle world title. She also became the first woman to land a Cab 1440 in a competition. [40]
2024 Luke Littler 17 Darts Became the youngest PDC World Darts Championship finalist, the youngest winner of both the Premier League Darts and Grand Slam of Darts. [41]

Winners by sport

Sport Number of
wins
Athletics 4*
Diving 4
Swimming 4
Artistic Gymnastics 3
Football 3
Boxing 1
Darts 1
Formula One 1*
Golf 1
Shooting 1
Skateboarding 1
Snowboarding 1
Tennis 1

* Including a Newcomer of the Year award

References

General
  • "Sports Personality of the Year: more winners". BBC. December 2007. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
Specific
  1. ^ "Young Sports Personality: The top 10". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 November 2008. Archived from the original on 22 December 2008. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Sports Personality of the Year: terms and conditions". BBC. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Sports Personality facts and figures". BBC Sport. BBC. 9 October 2008. Archived from the original on 18 January 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
  4. ^ "Tom Daley recalls BBC Young Sports Personality wins". BBC. 7 November 2011.
  5. ^ "Lewis heads sporting honours". BBC News. 12 December 1999. Archived from the original on 3 December 2002. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
  6. ^ "Ups and downs Down Under". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 November 2000. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  7. ^ "Athletics: Macey on the right track". Echo News. Newsquest Media Group. 7 February 2000. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  8. ^ "Redgrave voted Britain's best". BBC Sport. BBC. 10 December 2000. Archived from the original on 20 December 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  9. ^ Gray, Chris (11 December 2000). "Redgrave voted Sports Personality of the Year". The Independent. London: Independent News & Media. Retrieved 30 December 2008.[dead link‍]
  10. ^ "Young Amy takes prize". BBC Sport. BBC. 9 December 2001. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  11. ^ "Sports Awards: Beckham is personality of 2001". The Daily Telegraph. London. 9 December 2001. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  12. ^ "Rooney voted top youngster". BBC Sport. BBC. 8 December 2002. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  13. ^ Akwagyiram, Alexis (9 December 2002). "Marathon winner scoops BBC sports award". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 16 December 2008.
  14. ^ "Haywood makes a splash". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 December 2003. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  15. ^ Norton, Charlie (14 December 2003). "World Cup winners scoop prize". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  16. ^ "BBC Sports Personality: The winners". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 December 2004. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  17. ^ Rowbottom, Mike (13 December 2004). "Sports Awards: Holmes wins BBC Sports Personality of the Year". The Independent. London: Independent News & Media. Archived from the original on 31 August 2009. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  18. ^ "Sports Personality: The winners". BBC Sport. BBC. 11 December 2005. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  19. ^ Phillips, Michael (11 February 2006). "Double date opens door to Harry in a hurry". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  20. ^ "Sports Personality: The winners". BBC Sport. BBC. 10 December 2006. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  21. ^ Corrigan, James (11 December 2006). "Phillips is surprise winner of top Sports Personality award". The Independent. London: Independent News & Media. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  22. ^ "Calzaghe wins Sports Personality". BBC Sport. BBC. 9 December 2007. Archived from the original on 24 December 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  23. ^ "Tom Daley's double joy". The Daily Telegraph. London. 11 December 2007. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  24. ^ "Simmonds named Young Personality". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 December 2008. Archived from the original on 29 December 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  25. ^ "Paralympian Eleanor Simmonds named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year 2008". British Paralympic Association. 15 December 2008. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  26. ^ "Tom Daley wins second Young BBC Personality award". BBC Sport. BBC. 13 December 2009. Archived from the original on 17 December 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2009.
  27. ^ "Daley wins second Young BBC award". 13 December 2009 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  28. ^ "Diver Daley wins third BBC award". BBC Sport. BBC. 19 December 2010. Archived from the original on 23 December 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
  29. ^ "Sports Personality of the Year: Lauren Taylor wins Young award". BBC Sport. BBC. 22 December 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  30. ^ "Josef Craig wins BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 December 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  31. ^ "Young Sports Personality: Shooter Amber Hill wins BBC award". BBC Sport. BBC. 15 December 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  32. ^ a b "Claudia Fragapane wins BBC Young Sports Personality award". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 December 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  33. ^ "BBC Young Sports Personality: Swimmer Ellie Robinson wins award". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 December 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  34. ^ "BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year 2017: Footballer Phil Foden wins". BBC Sport. 17 December 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  35. ^ "BBC Young Sports Personality 2018: Kare Adenegan wins award". BBC Sport. 21 October 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  36. ^ "Young Sports Personality of the Year 2019: Who won?". BBC Sport. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  37. ^ "Young Sports Personality of the Year: Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix named 2020 award winner". BBC Sport. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  38. ^ "Young Sports Personality of the Year: Sky Brown". BBC Sport. 19 December 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  39. ^ "Young Sports Personality of the Year 2022: Gymnast Jessica Gadirova wins award". BBC. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  40. ^ "Young Sports Personality of the Year 2023: Snowboarder Mia Brookes wins award". BBC. 19 December 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  41. ^ "Luke Littler wins BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year 2024 award". BBC. 17 December 2024. Retrieved 17 December 2024.