BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2024: who is nominated for Young sports personality award?

• BBC have announced the nominees for Young Sports Personality Award for 2024.
• It includes an Olympian, a Paralympian and a darts star.
• See who is up for the award - and how the shortlist was decided.

The sports stars who have been nominated for the BBC’s Young Sports Personality of the Year award have been revealed for 2024. It includes one of the bookies’ favourites for the overall prize.

Clare Balding, Gabby Logan and Alex Scott will co-host the event on Tuesday December 17. Gary Lineker has stood down from presenting duties after 23 years as he continues to part ways with the Beeb.

The nominees for SPOTY have yet to be revealed, however one Olympic star is a clear favourite already. The three young stars who are up for the youth prize on December 17 have now been revealed.

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Who is up for Young Sports Personality of the Year 2024?

The top three contenders for the youth award - one of eight that will be handed out at the ceremony later in December - were announced on BBC Radio 1 on Thursday December 5. Breakfast show presenter Greg James revealed the contenders, who are as follows:

• Sky Brown (skateboarding)
• William Ellard (para swimming)
• Luke Littler (darts)

The radio host added: “These three are already well on their way to being household names and considering it’s so early on in their careers, don’t be surprised if they take over the world.”

What did the nominees achieve in 2024?

One name in particular may be more familiar than the other two, Luke Littler has had quite the breakthrough since his fairytale run at the World Darts Championship in late 2023 and early 2024.

But let’s take a moment to familiarise ourselves with all of the nominees for the young SPOTY award this year.

Sky Brown (16)

At just the tender age of 16, Sky is a double Olympic medalist. She made her debut at the 2020 Tokyo games in the summer of 2021 and won bronze in skateboarding.

Sky returned for the Paris 2024 games this summer and once again walked home with a bronze medal. She had hoped to compete in the surfing events as well, but an injury scuppered that dream.

She said: “I’m honoured to be shortlisted for Young SPOTY this year! Skateboarding has levelled up so much since the last Olympics. I’m so excited to see everyone push even harder and what that means for LA!”

William Ellard (18)

The 18-year-old enjoyed a stunning Paralympics debut in the games in Paris this summer. He returned home with three medals in the para-swimming, two of which were gold.

He took home the top honours in the S14 200m freestyle with a new world record of 1:51:30 and was also part of the relay team that stormed to victory in the S14 4x100m freestyle alongside Rhys Darbey, Poppy Maskill and Olivia Newman-Baronius.

On being shortlisted, William said: “To be shortlisted for this award means a lot to me. Some of the greats like Wayne Rooney, Ellie Simmonds, Phil Foden and Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix have won in the past, so to be nominated this year is a special feeling.”

Luke Littler (17)

The 17-year-old likely needs no introduction, he became a household name last Christmas as he made it all the way to the final of the World Darts Championships at London’s Alexandra Palace. He eventually lost to fellow Luke - world number one Luke Humphries - in the new year.

However he would go on to prove this success was not just a flash in the pan. . He’s since gone on to become the youngest winner of a major PDC tournament by claiming the Premier League Darts title, while his victory at the prestigious Grand Slam of Darts made him just the fourth player in history to win 10 trophies in one season.

His earnings for the year have surpassed £1m. Not bad for a year’s work, is it.

Luke said: “It’s been an amazing year and to be in the running for Young Sports Personality of the Year tops it off. If I've brought more fans to darts, then that's all that matters to me.”

Who picked the nominees - and who was in the top 10?

The top three contenders were chosen by an esteemed judging panel that included Paralympic gold medallist Sammi Kinghorn, Olympic silver medallist Kieran Reilly, television presenter Qasa Alom, Radio 1 presenter Jeremiah Asiamah, as well as representatives from the Youth Sport Trust, Blue Peter and BBC Sport.

The top ten included Mia Brookes (snowboarding), Cat Ferguson (cycling), Phoebe Gill (athletics), Abigail Martin (gymnastics), Ethan Nwaneri (football), Bly Twomey (para-table tennis) and Iona Winnifrith (para-swimming).

Who do you think should win the young SPOTY award? Share your thoughts and predictions by emailing me: [email protected].