Keely Hodgkinson tops the six-person shortlist for BBC Sports Personality of the Year – but there is no place for Tour de France record breaker Mark Cavendish.
Olympic 800m gold medalist Hodgkinson has been nominated alongside teenage darts sensation Luke Littler and Real Madrid superstar Jude Bellingham.
England batsman Joe Root, Olympic and world triathlon champion Alex Yee and Dame Sarah Storey, Britain’s most successful Paralympian, make up the rest of the shortlist.
But Cavendish has been controversially left out, despite making history in July by breaking the record for Tour de France stage wins with his 35th win.
The Manx Missile, which won SPOTY in 2011, was named third favorite by bookmakers to win the prestigious award for a second time.
Hodgkinson, 22, remains the odds-on favorite and would become the fourth consecutive female winner after Emma Raducanu, Beth Mead and Mary Earps.
Littler, 17, is the second favorite after reaching the final of the World Darts Championship at the age of 16 and could become the second-youngest winner in the show’s 70-year history.
He has also been nominated for Young Sports Personality of the Year, along with skateboarder Sky Brown and paraswimmer William Ellard.
The 21-year-old Bellingham is shortlisted after winning La Liga and the Champions League in his first season at Real Madrid, finishing third in the Ballon d’Or voting.
He also helped England reach the Euro 2024 final, saving them in the last 16 against Slovakia with an injury-time bicycle kick, despite recently saying he felt he had been made a scapegoat for his country not winning the tournament.
Root, 33, surpassed Sir Alastair Cook as England’s all-time leading Test run scorer in October. He has scored more Test runs than anyone in the world this year, starring in series victories against the West Indies, Sri Lanka and New Zealand, where he scored his 36th Test century this weekend.
When making the shortlist, Root said: “I didn’t expect that at all. “It’s something I saw as a kid growing up, so I’m honored to be involved.
“It’s been a wonderful year for sports, so it’s quite humbling to even think about it.”
Yee has been shortlisted after making a sensational comeback to win the Paris 2024 men’s triathlon, before claiming a bronze medal in the mixed relay. The 26-year-old also won his first world title.
Cyclist Storey, 47, won both the C5 time trial and C4-C5 road race at the Paralympic Games to extend her record as Britain’s most decorated athlete at the Games, with a total of 30 medals, including 19 gold medals .
The shortlist – which has been limited to just six contenders since 2018 – was put together by a 12-strong jury made up of former athletes, broadcasters, journalists and BBC executives.
Dame Laura Kenny, Iwan Thomas, Ade Adepitan, Nedum Onuoha and Rory Best were the ex-athletes on this year’s panel.
“It’s a fantastic shortlist,” said Alex Kay-Jelski, director of BBC Sport. “All six of them have kept us on the edge of our seats this year and showed just how sensational they are.
‘I’m looking forward to reliving all their successes on the night and finding out which audience will want to be crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2024.’
Swimmer Poppy Maskill, 19, may consider herself unlucky not to have been nominated after winning five medals at the Paralympic Games, including three golds, as did wheelchair tennis player Alfie Hewett. The 26-year-old won the Wimbledon singles title for the first time and completed a Grand Slam career, while also claiming Paralympic gold in men’s doubles.
Olympic mountain biking champion Tom Pidcock was also tipped for the shortlist, as was trampoline gold medalist Bryony Page.