The six-person shortlist for the coveted BBC Sports Personality of the Year award has been announced, with the winner to be crowned in Salford this month.
England team-mates Chloe Kelly and Hannah Hampton are up against one another after they helped the Lionesses win Euro 2025.
Lando Norris has been immediately recognised for becoming Britain’s 11th F1 World Champion with a nomination, while Rory McIlroy, Luke Littler and Ellie Kildunne are also on the star-studded shortlist set to descend on Media City.
Kelly and Hampton each played a key role in England’s historic penalty shootout win over Spain at Euro 2025, with Kelly scoring the tournament-winning spot-kick after Hampton had made two crucial saves.
Newly-crowned Formula One world champion Norris outdrove McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen in a tense end to the season that saw the closest finish to an F1 season for 15 years.
Littler, who began the year by becoming the youngest world champion in darts history at 17, went on to become only the fifth player ever to complete the PDC Triple Crown with the world championship, Premier League and Matchplay titles, rising to number one in the rankings.
McIlroy, 36, has enjoyed two great victories in 2025. At the Masters, he emerged from a dramatic play-off against Justin Rose to become only the sixth man to complete a grand slam of golf’s four majors. He then played a leading role at the Ryder Cup as Europe beat the USA.
Kildunne scored five tries as England won the Women’s Rugby World Cup this summer. She scored two tries in the semi-final win over France, and then added another in the final over Canada, having already helped seal Six Nations glory.
The Sports Personality of the Year will be awarded at a ceremony in Media City.
