A particular celebration of the perfect of British sport is coming to Sky Sports activities on Wednesday.
The winners of this 12 months’s British Sports activities Awards, an annual occasion organised by the Sports activities Journalists’ Affiliation, will probably be introduced all through the day reside on Sky Sports activities Information and Sky Sports activities’ social and digital platforms.
The highest trio of awards are for the Sportsman, Sportswoman and Crew of the 12 months.
The occasion has a prestigious 75-year historical past and earlier winners embody David Beckham, Lewis Hamilton, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Emma Raducanu, Torvill and Dean, and the 2003 Rugby World Cup-winning England staff.
The Sports activities Journalists’ Affiliation (SJA) is the largest nationwide organisation of its form on the earth, made up of over 900 sports activities media professionals, together with writers, broadcasters, photographers and content material creators.
The British Sports activities Awards, that are sponsored by the Nationwide Lottery, date again to 1949.
Together with the three most important classes, a collection of extra honours are made every year, akin to a devoted prize for para-athletes and an award recognising contributions to equality and inclusion, supported by Sky Sports activities and Kick It Out.
In 2023, the SJA Sportsman of the 12 months was England cricketer Stuart Broad; the Sportswoman was Lionesses goalkeeper Mary Earps; and Treble winners Manchester Metropolis FC have been named Crew of the 12 months.
The 2024 contenders
SJA members have a free vote to pick out their ‘best of British’ from the sporting successes of the previous 12 months.
Younger sportswriters from the SJA Academy assist to current the case for a number of the main candidates, based mostly on the power of their achievements. Their picks for this 12 months have been:
Sportsman
- Jude Bellingham (soccer) – received the UEFA Champions League and LaLiga with Actual Madrid, and helped England attain the Euro 2024 last
- Alfie Hewett (wheelchair tennis) – claimed the primary Wimbledon singles title of his profession and received gold and silver medals on the Paris Paralympics
- Luke Littler (darts) – received the Premier League and World Collection titles and was runner-up within the World Championship
- Lando Norris (F1) – the McLaren driver was victorious at three Grands Prix and has challenged for the world title
- Tom Pidcock (biking) – retained his Olympic mountain-biking title in thrilling trend and received cross-country bronze on the World Championships
- Joe Root (cricket) – grew to become England’s highest Take a look at run-scorer of all time and has now hit greater than 50 worldwide centuries
- Alex Yee (triathlon) – received the Olympic particular person title and the World Championship collection title, each for the primary time in his profession
Sportswoman
- Lucy Bronze (soccer) – received a continental Quadruple with Barcelona and is the seventh most-capped Lioness of all time
- Emma Finucane (biking) – claimed three medals at Paris 2024, the primary British girl since 1964 to attain this at a single summer time Olympics
- Jodie Grinham (archery) – received two Paralympic medals and made Video games historical past in competing whereas pregnant
- Keely Hodgkinson (athletics) – clinched Olympic 800m gold, retained her European title, and ran the sixth quickest time ever over the space within the Diamond League
- Bryony Web page (trampoline gymnastics) – grew to become Olympic champion for the primary time in her profession, and received particular person and synchro titles on the European Championships
- Sarah Storey (biking) – received her nineteenth gold medal on the Paralympics and took her total Video games tally to 30 – solely three para-athletes have received extra
Crew
- England males’s soccer – reached their second consecutive UEFA European Championship last and retained their top-four FIFA World Rating
- GB Olympics diving – runners-up on the Olympics with 5 medals behind China’s clear sweep, having received seven medals on the World Championships earlier in 2024
- GB Olympics rowing – achieved their best-ever medal haul at an abroad Olympics, profitable eight, together with three gold
- INEOS Britannia (crusing) – victory over Italy within the Louis Vuitton Cup secured a historic America’s Cup showdown as Britain’s first challenger on the earth’s oldest sporting competitors for 60 years
- McLaren F1 – with three Grands Prix to go, the staff tops the Constructors’ Championship standings having received 5 GPs up to now
- Wigan Warriors (rugby league) – received a ‘Grand Slam’ quadruple, the second within the membership’s historical past, of Tremendous League, League Leaders’ Protect, Problem Cup, and World Membership Problem
The members’ votes have been tallied and SJA President Darren Lewis will probably be readily available within the Sky Sports activities Information studio to disclose the winners.
The opposite SJA British Sports activities Awards to be introduced on Wednesday are:
- The Nationwide Lottery Spirit of Sport Award – recognising a job mannequin who conjures up others via dedication and truthful play
- The Invoice McGowran Trophy – a first-of-its-kind award for incapacity sport when launched in 1963, and named after a two-time SJA chair, this class is for high-achieving para-athletes of the 12 months
- The Pat Besford Award – named after the primary girl to chair the SJA, this honours the excellent efficiency of the 12 months
- The J.L. Manning Award – for companies to sport off the sphere of play. Previous winners on this class embody athletes, coaches and directors; it’s named after an OBE-winning former SJA chair
- The Peter Wilson Trophy – recognising the breakthrough athletes of the 12 months in each males’s and ladies’s sports activities, named after a legendary sportswriter often known as ‘The Man They Couldn’t Gag’
- The SJA President’s, SJA Chair’s, and SJA Committee Awards – a trio of prizes specifically chosen by the Affiliation
- The Sky Sports activities | Kick It Out Award – first awarded in 2021, recognising a person’s contribution to equality and inclusion
Watch interviews with a bunch of star names as they’re introduced as SJA British Sports activities Award winners reside on Sky Sports activities all through the day on Wednesday November 20.
