The BBC have announced that three female Paralympians are among the 16 contenders for Sports Personality of the Year.
GB medal winners Dame Sarah Storey, Sophie Christiansen and Kadeena Cox have all be nominated for the prestigious award.
Also in the running is tennis superstar Andy Murray, boxer Nicola Adams and triathlete Alastair Brownlee. Of the 16 names on this year’s shortlist, 13 of them achieved success at either the Olympics or the Paralympics, with footballers Gareth Bale and Jamie Vardy, and golfer Danny Willett the only exceptions.
While no Paralympian has won the main award, following the incredible achievements of ParalymicsGB this could be the year that a Paralympic star takes home the title. Check out our rundown of the three Paralymian nominees below.
Dame Sarah Storey, 39, Cyclist
Sarah is Britain’s most decorated female Paralympian in history Sarah topped Tanni Grey-Thompson’s gold medal haul of 11 after she won three gold medals at Rio this summer. Sarah now has a grand total of 14 golds across from swimming and cycling events and is also a 27-time World champion (5 in swimming and 22 in cycling), a 21-time European champion (18 in swimming and 3 in cycling) and holding 72 world records.
Storey was born without a functioning left hand after her arm became entangled in the umbilical cord in the womb and lives at home with husband, tandem pilot and coach Barney Storey and their three-year-old daughter, Louisa.
Sophie Christiansen, 29, Equestrian
Christiansen was born two months prematurely with cerebral palsy and suffered from other health problems including jaundice, blood poisoning, a heart attack and a collapsed lung. At the age of six she began horse riding as a form of physiotherapy and at 16 she became the youngest athlete for Great Britain at the 2004 Summer Paralympics.
The rider from Berkshire became a triple gold medalist in this year’s games, taking her total career haul to eight.
Kadeena Cox, 25, Athlete/Cyclist
Kadeena, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis two years ago, was picked to be GB’s flagbearer at the Rio closing ceremony after she become the first British star to win titles in two sports at the same Games since Seoul 1988.
She earned a gold in the T38 athletics 400m and triumphed in the C4-5 time trial. She also took athletics silver in the T35-38 4x100m relay and bronze in the T38 100m.
The award will be presented to the sportsman or woman with the most votes on 18 December. You can vote for your favourite by phone or online on the night during the live show from Birmingham or cast your vote now.
