Olympic 800m gold medallist Keely Hodgkinson was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2024 at the MediaCity, in Salford last night.
Having previously won successive World Championship silvers after also finishing runner-up on her Olympic debut in Tokyo three years ago, the 22-year-old ended her wait for a global title by taking the title at Paris 2024. Darts player Luke Littler was second, although he did receive the ‘Young Sports Personality of the Year’ nod, with England cricketer Joe Root third. Sarah Storey, Alex Yee and Jude Bellingham were also shortlisted for the award by a panel of experts, with the winner decided by a public vote.
Hodgkinson, who also retained her European 800m title in Rome and became the sixth-fastest woman of all-time when she improved her British record to one minute 54.61 seconds at the London Diamond League, said: "I was in a bit of shock.
"I was more excited for my coach as I wouldn't be here without his guidance. This year,” she went on to say: “has been incredible and I achieved everything I set out to do on the outdoor track.
“I hope you loved watching Paris." Hodgkinson is the fourth successive woman to win the award after Mary Earps (2023), Beth Mead (2022) and Emma Raducanu (2021).
Her coaches, Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows, were recognised with the Coach of the Year award earlier in the night, following a period where she (Hodgkinson) went undefeated over 800m in a sensational year which culminated in the Olympic gold she had been determined to achieve following a series of near-misses. Having retained the European gold which in 2022 represented her first major outdoor title, she triumphed in dominant fashion in Paris to deliver Team GB's first Olympic track title since Mo Farah's 5,000m and 10,000m double at Rio 2016.
Hodgkinson, who announced herself with silver in Tokyo, became only the 10th British woman to win an athletics gold at an Olympics - and first since Jessica Ennis-Hill at London 2012 and remains unwavering in her pursuit of becoming one of Britain's most decorated athletes.
Other highlights saw Dr Mark Prince honoured with the ‘Helen Rollason Award’ for his work with the Kiyan Prince Foundation, which keeps young people away from knife crime through boxing. The foundation is named after Prince's son Kiyan - an academy footballer who was stabbed to death outside his school's gates in 2006.
The ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award went to record 35 Tour de France stages winner, Sir Mark Cavendish, Swedish multi-World, Olympic and European pole-vaulter, Armand Duplantis, receiving the ‘World Sport Star of the Year’ recognition. 90-year-old Jean Paton was the ‘Unsung Hero’, whilst Wigan Warriors Rugby Football Club was the ‘Team of The Year’.
