BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year 2024 top three revealed

This morning, the top three contenders for BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year 2024 were announced live by Greg James on BBC Radio 1 Breakfast. Each one has been recognised as a sporting superstar of the future and for their outstanding achievement in the world of sport this year.  

 In alphabetical order, the top three are:  

• Sky Brown (skateboarding)  

• William Ellard (para swimming)  

BBC Radio 1 Breakfast presenter, Greg James says: “These three are already well on their way to being household names and considering it’s so early on in their careers, don’t be surprised if they take over the world.”  

The winner will be announced during BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2024 on Tuesday 17 December at 9pm, live on BBC One and iPlayer. 

RM4

Sky Brown (skateboarding) Age 16   

At the age of just 16 Brown became a double Olympic medallist as she matched her park skateboarding bronze at the Tokyo Games in Paris. Great Britain’s youngest ever Olympic medallist returned to the podium despite having to make two incredible recoveries from injury. She battled back from tearing a ligament in her knee in April, only to then dislocate her shoulder the day before she was due to travel to Paris. Not even a subsequent fall on her injured shoulder in the preliminary round at the Olympics could stop her finishing a brilliant third for the second Games running.   

Sky says: “I’m honoured to be shortlisted for Young SPOTY this year! Skateboarding has levelled up so much since the last Olympics. I’m so excited to see everyone push even harder and what that means for LA!”  

William Ellard (para-swimming) Age 18   

Ellard enjoyed a stunning Paralympic debut in Paris, returning home with three medals, two of which were gold. He topped the podium in the S14 200m freestyle with a new world record of 1:51:30 and was also part of the relay team that stormed to victory in the S14 4x100m freestyle alongside Rhys Darbey, Poppy Maskill and Olivia Newman-Baronius. A further silver came in the S14 100m butterfly. At the European Championships earlier in the year he picked up his first continental titles with golds in the S14 200 freestyle and S14 100m butterfly, as well as a further silver and bronze.  

On being shortlisted, William says: “To be shortlisted for this award means a lot to me. Some of the greats like Wayne Rooney, Ellie Simmonds, Phil Foden and Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix who have won in the past, so to be nominated this year is a special feeling.”  

Luke Littler (darts) Age 17   

The darts prodigy catapulted himself to stardom on a fairytale run to the PDC World Championship final. Just months after finishing his GCSEs, and ranked a lowly 164th in the world, the then 16-year-old broke a host of records on route to reaching the final. He’s since gone on to become the youngest winner of a major PDC tournament by claiming the Premier League Darts title, while his victory at the prestigious Grand Slam of Darts made him just the fourth player in history to win 10 trophies in one season. His earnings for the year have surpassed £1m. 

Luke says: “It’s been an amazing year and to be in the running for Young Sports Personality of the Year tops it off. If I’ve brought more fans to darts, then that’s all that matters to me.” 

The top three contenders were chosen by an esteemed judging panel that included Paralympic gold medallist Sammi Kinghorn, Olympic silver medallist Kieran Reilly, television presenter Qasa Alom, Radio 1 presenter Jeremiah Asiamah, as well as representatives from the Youth Sport Trust, Blue Peter and BBC Sport.     

The top ten included Mia Brookes (snowboarding), Cat Ferguson (cycling), Phoebe Gill (athletics), Abigail Martin (gymnastics), Ethan Nwaneri (football), Bly Twomey (para-table tennis) and Iona Winnifrith (para-swimming).