BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year

Tuesday, 10 November 2009

The Youth Sport Trust has helped to shortlist ten finalists for this year’s BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year, which recognises Britain’s outstanding young sporting talent.

There were several dozen entries this year of very high calibre so it was a tough challenge for the judging panel to shortlist a top ten. The panel will meet again on 23 November to agree a top three and then vote in a secret ballot.

The year’s judging panel includes BBC Sport presenters John Inverdale and Jake Humphrey, Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton, former winners Kate Haywood and Harry Aikines Aryeetey as well as two representatives from the Youth Sport Trust - our Director of Sport Alison Oliver and Director of Communications and Policy, Mark Atkinson.

The finalists for the BBC’s Young Sports Personality of the Year Award, in alphabetical order, are:

Tom Daley – diving
Tom is currently one of our I eXcel athletes, which helps high performers still at school excel in their sport and study. He is the youngest ever British World Champion in any sport taking gold in the 10m diving event at the World Championships in Rome.

Becky Downie – gymnastics
Becky is British Senior Champion in All-Around, Barms, Beam and Floor.

George Ford – rugby union
George will be joining our I excel programme this year. This month he became the youngest ever player to play in the premiership, making his debut for Leicester Tigers.

Oliver Golding – tennis
This year Oliver became the youngest ever British No.1 Junior player and represented Great Britain in the Junior Davis Cup in October 2009.

Sarah Moore – motor racing
In 2009 Sarah won the Ginetta Junior Championship, becoming the first female to win a mixed-sex motor racing championship at national level.

John Paul – cycling
John is among the fastest sprinters in the world for his age group. He won three gold medals at this year’s UK School Games. He’s a former graduate of our National Talent Orientation Camp and is currently a member of our STARS squad.

Mike Perham – sailing
This year Mike became the youngest person ever to sail around the world single-handed after a nine month voyage. He already has plans for his next adventure in 2010.

Eleanor Simmonds – swimming
Eleanor won a gold medal at the 2006 UK School Games and is currently a UK School Games Champion Ambassador. This year she was the youngest person ever to receive an MBE and won five gold medals at the recent European Championships.

Heather Watson – tennis
Heather is the Number 1 British junior and ranked the third best Junior in the world. In September 2009, she won the US Open Girls' title at Flushing Meadow.
 
Jodie Williams –athletics
In July Jodie became the first girl ever to win both the 100m and 200m titles at the IAAF World Youth Championships.

Ali Oliver, Youth Sport Trust’s Sport Director, said:
“This year’s nominations for Young Sports Personality of the Year are some of the best ever. The breadth and depth of the young talent within this country is truly inspiring and reflects the healthy state of youth sport across the UK. The shortlist features some absolutely outstanding performers who are competing on the National, European and World stage. Each and every one of them must feel very proud of their successes and deserves enormous credit for their achievements.”

The Award will be announced live on BBC1 on the evening of 13 December 2008 from Sheffield.