Key events
Rory McIlroy
Born: Holywood, Co Down. Age: 36. Sport: Golf
Won in 2025: The Masters; Ryder Cup with Europe.
The moment of this sporting year was delivered by Rory McIlroy. It was not simply that he won the Masters in April, but the theatric circumstances by which McIlroy became just the sixth man in history to complete a grand slam of majors turned heads way beyond golf, confirming his status as the UK’s finest ever golfer.
McIlroy has delivered lessons in persistence, in chasing a dream that looked so likely to escape him. And if we are being true to the title of this award, McIlroy wins hands down. He has personality in abundance. He displayed it not only at Augusta but in New York, where he was front and centre for Europe’s famous Ryder Cup triumph.
There is a legitimate argument that McIlroy has not received the credit he deserves at home. He should have claimed the Spoty title in 2014, when he lost to Lewis Hamilton. This is the time to properly recognise his brilliance. Ewan Murray
And here are recent Guardian interviews with that trio of elite athletes. Get reading!
Two more contenders for tonight’s big prize have arrived in Salford: Chloe Kelly and Rory McIlroy!
Luke Littler
Born: Warrington. Age: 18. Sport: Darts.
Won in 2025: World Championship, world No 1 ranking and five more majors.
Even Luke Littler doesn’t think he should win this year: he won’t be at the ceremony, instead endorsing Lando Norris. That said, it’s hard to think what more he could have done: world champion, world No 1, World Matchplay and World Grand Prix champion, UK Open and Grand Slam champion, architect of the most frightening reign of dominance the sport has seen since Phil Taylor.
Not only that, Littler’s emergence has transformed the landscape of professional darts, cutting through the snobbery and condescension that often accompanies it. Perhaps Littler’s most significant impediment – in both this and future years – will be timing. The world championship final, the crowning achievement of the darting year, comes in January, a full 11 months before voting begins.
The curse of repeated excellence is that after a while, everyone gets used to it. Perhaps Littler’s best chance – as with Taylor in 2010, when he finished second to AP McCoy – is to wait for a quieter year and build a groundswell of momentum. That is, if he’s bothered about Sports Personality in the slightest. Jonathan Liew
Ellie Kildunne appears to be the first of our shortlisted six to arrive – although we already know Luke Littler isn’t planning on showing up.
Also on the red carpet are Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean – the only people to share the award, back in 1984, and true sporting icons.
Rising cricket star Davina Perrin is up for the young sports personality award. She was born in 2006, everyone.
Rory McIlroy is the bookies’ favourite to win tonight – with Lando Norris and Chloe Kelly seen as his biggest rivals. As Sean Ingle reports, golf has a troubled history with this award – incredibly, only two golfers have ever won it.
Ellie Kildunne
Born: Keighley. Age: 26. Sport: Rugby union
Won in 2025: Rugby World Cup with England.
Ellie Kildunne’s nomination is as unsurprising as it is deserved. She has had a sparkling year as part of a formidable Red Roses team, culminating in winning the Rugby World Cup. England’s squad is full of talented players but Kildunne has become one of its stars, thanks to her style of play and scoring crucial tries.
In 2025, Kildunne scored nine tries across the Six Nations and World Cup, but she is much more than her stats. The Harlequins full-back has grown as a role model, and is the first women’s rugby players to make the Spoty shortlist. On the field, fans get to their feet to see what magic Kildunne will produce, and she more than delivered with a sizzling solo effort in the World Cup final. Sarah Rendell
Chloe Kelly
Born: London. Age: 27. Sport: Football.
Won in 2025: Euro 2025 with England, Champions League with Arsenal.
You could argue that Chloe Kelly has not played enough football for club or country to win a major individual award, but her position on this shortlist is reward for a year of game-changing impact. Her hop, skip, jump and strike from the penalty spot to seal a second straight European title for the Lionesses was probably enough.
In a year which began with Kelly contemplating quitting football after being frozen out at Manchester City, her journey has been remarkable. Going public with her frustrations and deteriorating mental health, as her career stalled and a place in England’s Euros squad looked increasingly at risk, forced City to let her join Arsenal on loan.
Kelly returned to the club she left in 2018 and thrived, making a significant contribution to Arsenal’s historic Champions League win before replicating her 2022 Euros final heroics three years on. “Tough times don’t last – just around the corner was a Champions League final. I won that. Now a Euros final, I’ve won that. So, thank you to everyone that wrote me off. I’m grateful.” Suzanne Wrack
There are other prizes on offer tonight, including:
World Sport Star of the Year: The nominees include athletics stars Armand Duplantis and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, footballers Mohamed Salah and Mariona Caldentey, recently-retired boxer Terence Crawford and baseball phenomenon Shohei Ohtani.
Young Sports Personality: Three names on the shortlist here – Luke Littler, Euros hero Michelle Agyemang and teenage cricket sensation Davina Perrin – you can read more about her journey here.
Team of the Year: It’s between three sides who would coast to victory in most years – the England women’s rugby team, England women’s football team and Europe’s Ryder Cup winners.
Helen Rollason Award: A special prize “recognising outstanding achievement in the face of adversity.” Recent winners include Rob Burrow, Fatima Whitbread and Mark Prince, who created the Kiyan Prince Foundation in honour of his late son.
Lifetime Achievement Award: This year, it’s going to football legend, viral pundit and coolest man alive, Thierry Henry. Va-va-voom!
Here are the reasons why each nominee might win tonight, using an entirely impartial alphabetical order and starting with …
Hannah Hampton
Born: Birmingham. Age: 25. Sport: Football.
Won in 2025: Euro 2025 with England, domestic treble with Chelsea.
No sporting event in 2025 gripped England quite like the Lionesses’ Euros success and that euphoria would not have happened without Hannah Hampton’s saves. The England keeper made crucial saves to deny Sweden and Italy on the way to the final, and then kept out two Spanish penalties in the crucial shootout.
If that were not enough, Hampton also helped Chelsea win a domestic treble unbeaten and was the joint winner of the WSL’s golden glove. She has achieved all this despite being born with a serious eye condition; doctors warned her she would not be able to play football. Instead, she has filled the sizeable gloves of England’s previous No 1, Mary Earps, and thrived on the pressure that brought. Tom Garry
Preamble
When the BBC first launched their annual Sports Personality of the Year prize in 1954, Queen Elizabeth II was 18 months into her reign. Britain’s most expensive footballer was Jackie Sewell, signed by Sheffield Wednesday for £34,500. Formula One was a fledgling event with nine races a year. Women’s football was banned by the FA, who deemed it to be “not a game for girls”.
The sporting landscape and the world around it has changed beyond all recognition since the Beeb handed the first trophy to Christopher Chataway. “His friend and fellow athlete Roger Bannister might have seemed a likelier winner,” wrote the Telegraph, and thankfully we can only imagine the social media furore.
While so much has changed, Sports Personality has remained largely the same; one headline winner at the end of a comfortably familiar ceremony that runs through the year’s highlights. No big surprises, no huge drama or controversy – and after the deep cringe of the recent World Cup draw, a little decorum wouldn’t go amiss.
There are six names on this year’s shortlist: Euro-winning England footballers Chloe Kelly and Hannah Hampton, Rugby World Cup winner Ellie Kildunne, Formula One world champion Lando Norris, Masters and Ryder Cup winner Rory McIlroy and the darts world champion and world No 1, Luke Littler.
Few Spoty shortlists have been so rich in silverware, and you could make a case for any one of them to win the award in a leaner year for British sport. But only one can take home the prize, after which – much like in 1954 – the audience will politely applaud, go home and get on with their lives. And that’s the way we like it.
