Keely Hodgkinson named BBC Sports Personality of the Year: Beaming Olympic gold medallist takes out top spot – becoming the fourth woman in a row to win gong

Keely Hodgkinson has been voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year by the public after a phenomenal year on the track.  

The athlete was the favourite to win the historic title and is now the fourth woman in a row to win SPOTY after Emma Raducanu, Beth Mead and Mary Earps.

The athlete was up against some stiff competition following a formidable year of sports with the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris earlier this year, as well as Wimbledon, the EUROs and several World Cups this year alone.  

The phenomenal sportswoman beat out superstar darts player Luke, triathlete Alex Yee, footballer Jude Bellingham, para-cyclist Sarah Storey, cricketer Joe Root as well as Luke Littler for the historic title. 

The Olympic 800 metres champion had an astonishing year, with the 22-year-old bagging gold at the Paris Olympics as well as defending her European title. 

Not only did she bring home several medals this year, she also became the sixth fastest woman in history setting a new British record of one minute and 54.61 seconds. 

After being presented the award by former winners Sir Chris Hoy and Mary Earps, the Olympian confessed she was in a ‘little bit of shock.’

‘I’m actually more excited for my coach to be honest! This year has been absolutely incredible for me,’ she added. 

‘I am so grateful to be in this position. I wish you all a wonderful evening, thank you so much!’ 

But the track isn’t the only place Hodgkinson sets heart racing as she donned a chic black backless dress, with glamorous sheer sleeves covering her hands.

Whilst on the red carpet, she revealed how it would be a great win not only for her but her sport, to ‘showcase’ not only herself ‘but all the incredible athletes.’

‘It would be amazing to win. You look at the names down the list, not just track and field, you have got Andy Murray, Lewis Hamilton, British icons,’ she added.

‘So it would be great to put my name up there as well, so fingers crossed.’

During the ceremony, the sportswoman spoke of her talent and passion for track and field, adding that life had been ‘amazing’ since Paris. 

‘I get the best out of my self when I have something to aim for.’ she explained. 

‘I took great inspiration from Jessica Ennis-Hill at London 2012. You start to dream into your teenage years.

‘There is definitely a difference. It’s been amazing ever since Paris, I have had people come up to me with such amazing messages saying their kids love to watch it.’

She previously mentioned that it would bring her more joy to see her mentor and coach Trevor Painter win Coach of the Year. 

Painter alongside Jenny Meadows won the category – whose winners include the likes of Wigan Warriors boss Matt Peet and USA’s ex-Chelsea women’s manager Emma Hayes.

Not only has Painter led Hodgkinson to gold in Paris, he also guided Georgia Bell a bronze medal in the 1500m as well as Lewis Davey to a bronze in the men’s 4x400m relay.

‘It would be even better than me winning it,’ said Hodgkinson when asked about the prospect of Painter triumphing in his category. ‘I think he deserves it so much.

‘I’m not sure of any other coach this year that has put forward as much as he has in getting three Olympic medals within our training group.

‘He just creates such a fun environment for us all that makes us want to keep coming and keep working hard. 

‘He’s got a really good work ethic and he believes in all of us. That’s what has helped us achieve so much on the track.’ 

A close contender for the Sports Personality of the Year, Luke Littler who came second in the publicly voted award. 

Although he missed out on the main award, the 17-year-old did walk away with the Young Sports Personality of the Year trophy, beating out Paralympian swimmer Will Ellard and Olympic skateboarder Sky Brown. 

In his speech to the crowd, the youngster said the title signified how much he had accomplished in the last year.  

‘I know the amount of academies that have been brought up in different locations, how big the sport has got. It just goes to show how much I’ve changed it [darts],’ he said.

Littler was launched to stardom at the beginning of the year when he reached the Darts World Championship final. 

He later went on win the Premier League – as well as his first major Grand Slam of Darts back in November all at the age of 17. 

During the awards, he gave viewers a glimpse of his lifetime obsession with darts, quipping that his dad ‘decided to hang up’ his football boots for him. 

‘Our lives have changed and we’ve had to get on with it,’ he said: ‘When you’re playing darts for that long, constantly throwing at the same segment, it all adds up.

‘I know myself, if I want it then I can definitely do it for another 25 or 30 years.’

England batter, Joe Root, was also among the award hopefuls, having continued to deliver top cricket on the international stage over the last year. 

In October, Root surpassed former team-mate Alistair Cook’s run tally of 12,472 to become the country’s all-time Test run leading scorer. 

He told the BBC from New Zealand: ‘It’s been great fun to play in a team where you all get along with each other.

‘It’s been a hell of a journey from start to finish. It seems to be getting more and more enjoyable. 

‘To go past Cooky [as England’s highest Test run scorer of all-time], a mentor and a friend, was obviously nice and I got a call from him as well. 

‘We spend a lot of time together, it’s a massive part of what brings us our success.’

Triathlete Alex Yee, who was also nominated also had a promising run in Paris this year, turning silver into gold at this years when he dramatically passed competitor Hayden Wilde in the closing stages of the triathlon.

‘It’s all about not giving up, particularly in that moment when I wasn’t having my best day,’ he told Alex Scott.

‘For me, I’d come such a long way and worked so hard. I got the silver medal in Tokyo and that was amazing but I didn’t want to settle.’ 

Dame Sarah Storey – another BBC Sports Personality of the Year hopeful – took to the stage on crutches after breaking her ankle in an ice-skating mishap after a sensational performance in Paris 2024. 

The Paralympian won two gold medals at the Paralympics this year, both in the Women’s C5 time trial and then another in the Women’s C4-5 road race. 

‘I am not used to being this slow! I was training to do some ice skating and I tripped and broke my ankle. I was training and I tripped and broke my ankle.’ she said.

‘I did it two weeks ago, but I’m doing rehab like a crazy woman. I absolutely love it [cycling]. It’s something about what sport gives you, about what it gives other people.’

She also revealed that she hadn’t begun to think about LA 2028, before quippin gthat she really ‘love[d] a challenge’. 

‘[My kids] really love to be part of a big team, so we’ll hopefully be putting together a plan once I’m a bit better, to see what it takes,’ she added.

Jude Bellingham was not present at the event and did not interview, as he is currently preparing for the FIFA Intercontinental Cup final with Real Madrid in Qatar.

Cycling legend Sir Mark Cavendish was also honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award following a 19-year career which saw him break the Tour de France record just this year. 

He won the main SPOTY award back in 2011, and now 13 years on was handed an equally brilliant one. 

‘I don’t really know what to say. I’m not very good at public speaking, that’s why I ride a bike for a living or did ride a bike for a living,’ he said.

‘You can do what you want with sport, specifically with cycling that’s what I loved about it. I don’t really watch cycling, I watch everything else.’

‘If we look back on those few years with Covid as soon as sports started it got everyone happy again.’ 

Before receiving his award, he told the BBC: ‘It’s such an amazing feeling – what an honour. 

‘I’ve been riding for 20 years and I’ve done everything I can so to be awarded this is something very, very special.

‘I’m very fortunate I’ve done everything I wanted to do, and proud that’s more than many other people have done as well. 

He added: ‘I always dreamed of having my name alongside those greats I grew up watching.’

Other awards were also up for grabs tonight, with Armand Duplantis winning World Sport Star Award after breaking the Pole Vault world record several times in 2024.

Dr Mark Prince was honoured with the Helen Rollason award after creating the Kiyan Prince Foundation after his son was stabbed to death in 2006. 

The programme provides coaching and motivational talks in boxing to keep children away from knife crime, and has reached 100,000 children so far. 

He tearfully shared in his speech that he was ‘not often short of words,’ before adding: ‘I am always up and motivating other people and this is really overwhelming for me.’

‘I am proud of the fact I didn’t give in to revenge,’ he said.

‘God has given us a choice and we can choose no matter what happens to us we have a power of choice. We can choose how we deal with it.

‘We have not got the choice of what happens, but the choice of how we deal with it.’

Jean Paton also won the Unsung Hero award for her contributions to the sailing community, having volunteered for 40-years at children’s club – Salt and Sailing inspiring several British Olympians.

Rugby club Wigan Warriors walked away with the Team of the Year title. 

Earlier in the night, former professional cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins stood proudly with his children in tow at the lavish event tonight.

The Olympic cycling legend attended one of the biggest sporting events of the year alongside his children Isabella and Ben Wiggins. 

The delighted father smiled in his pinstriped black suit couple with a white t-shirt, as his son put on a formal display in an all-black suit and tie. 

His daughter Isabelle donned a satin black dress, cutting a glamorous figure with her beach blonde tresses hanging over her shoulders.

Among Britain’s best sportspeople who also graced tonight’s annual event is six-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy and his wife Sarra Kemp. 

It comes shortly Sir Chris Hoy’s revealed his wife Sarra is battling ‘very active and aggressive’ MS in the wake of his terminal cancer diagnosis in October. 

In his bombshell memoir, the Olympian detailed how his wife’s devastating diagnosis was delivered only weeks after he discovered he had cancer. 

Sir Hoy’s wife, who has ‘got him through it all’ over the last 14-years, was ordered to have a scan by her GP after she began to experience a tingling sensation in her face and tongue. 

It later emerged she had MS (multiple sclerosis) –  a degenerative disease for which there is no cure. 

The revelation about her tragic health prognosis came as the gold-medal cyclist has divulged that his cancer is terminal and that he has just ‘two to four years’ left to live.

Despite receiving her results last November, in the midst of the anguish of the 48-year-old’s diagnosis, Sarra did inform him of her own prognosis until December.

Sarra, 40, worked as a senior lawyer before the couple, who married in Edinburgh in 2010, had their two children, Callum, nine, and Chloe, six. 

On the more difficult days, she finds it a challenge to fit her key in the door, but has remained positive, continuing to run and attend gym classes, according to Sir Hoy. 

‘It’s the closest I’ve come to, like, you know, why me? Just, what? What’s going on here? It didn’t seem real. It was such a huge blow,’ he told the Times of his wife’s MS diagnosis in October. 

‘When you’re already reeling. You think nothing could possibly get worse. You literally feel like you’re at rock bottom, and you find out, oh no, you’ve got further to fall. It was brutal.’

Sarra’s outlook has remained enthusiastic despite the serious health challenges the pair have faced whilst raising their children.

He told the publication: ‘She says all the time, ‘How lucky are we?’ 

‘We both have incurable illnesses for which there is some treatment. Not every disease has that. It could be a lot worse’.’  

Prior to his interview with the publication, very few people knew of his wife’s condition.

In a more recent interview with Lorraine, the world-class cyclist emphasised the importance of screenings and his campaign to get the age that GPs recommend PSA tests lowered.

He heartbreakingly revealed that he believed if he had been tested earlier, then the disease could have been caught more quickly.

He said: ‘It’s been an overwhelming response, so many people getting in touch and going to doctors for check-ups. As men we’re a bit guilty of not checking our health, and that’s now changing.

‘Normally the threshold is 50, then your doctor might ask you to get a PSA test. But for me with family history – my grandpa and dad both had prostate cancer.

‘In my opinion if I had been screened earlier, then there was a chance we might have caught it. Nothing against my own GP, my doctors have been amazing, but I think in general as a nation if we can have the threshold lowered, we could save a lot of lives.’

Speaking about what he has told his kids, Chris said: ‘We’ve told them the basics of it. Before I went in to do chemotherapy, we explained what was happening.

‘We weren’t sure how I was going to respond to chemo so it was important to let the kids know that actually I am going to be unwell but it’s because of the chemotherapy, it’s because of the treatment.’

The cyclist revealed Sarra had made a drawing of a blossom tree for their son and daughter to add a blossom to for every chemo treatment he underwent.