This was always going to be a difficult task, as each and every one of the people on the shortlist deserves to be honoured for their remarkable achievements. Our judges came armed with their choices and it was a battle of wills as each nominee was discussed among the group.
Alongside our Daily Mirror team we were joined by our host Ben Shephard, Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington OBE, British Paralympic Dressage rider Natasha Baker MBE, rugby league legend Martin Offiah MBE, Sarah Marl representing the English Federation of Disability Sport, Rachel Lock from our partner TSB, and last year’s winner Chris Graham.
Before the judging Martin told us “I’m honoured to be here, I’ve read through some amazing stories, some of which I’ve never heard about before. It’s going to be a tough job to pick the winners. I’ll obviously be slightly partial to a few of the rugby stories. England had a fantastic year this year after a dismal 2015”.
Natasha Baker, who retained her Paralympic dressage crown in Rio told us “I’m so so nervous, there are so many amazing, worthy winners and it’s going to be so tough to decide who’s going to come top. I just think that everybody is so deserving of these awards. I’m very excited to be here and to be part of it. It’s been such an incredible year for sport”.
Once the judging had started our panel were certainly passionate about who they wanted to win and at one point Martin jokingly asked if anyone had ever ‘walked out’ of the judging! Once we had reassured him that he needed to stay the group continued to discuss the merits of each nominee across the ten categories. Our Editor in Chief of the Daily Mirror Lloyd Embley did a great job as chair of the group, keeping everyone in check as passionate discussions often got quite animated.
We finally reached our finalists and the scene is now set for an incredible ceremony on the 7th December in London. Our host Ben Shephard told us, “There have been some extraordinary finalists in every single category. I think we’ve got some incredible winners and it’s going to be another very special night. I just can’t wait to be there and to celebrate with all these deserving finalists”.
The Awards
- Coach of the Year
- Young Sports Person of the Year
- Local Hero
- Disability Sport
- Charity Challenge of the Year
- TSB Community Partnership
- Sporting Event of the Year
- Elite Team of the Year
- Grassroots Team of the Year
- Young Achiever
Our judges
- Lloyd Embley
- David Walker
- Rachel Lock
- Shiraz Lalani
- Ben Shephard
- Rebecca Adlington
- Martin Offiah
- Natasha Baker
- Chris Graham
- Sarah Marl
