|
Welsh cyclists Becky James and Elinor Barker have been shortlisted in the Sunday Times and Sky Sports Sportswomen of the Year Awards 2013 for their achievements over the last twelve months.
Elinor Barker and Becky James after the 2013 UCI Track World Championships
Becky James has been shortlisted in The Sunday Times and Sky Sports Sportswoman of the Year and Young Sportswoman of the Year categories. Becky achieved remarkable success at the 2013 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Minsk, Belarus. The 21 year old sprinter from Abergavenny became the first Briton to win four medals at one world championship event. She earned world titles in the Keirin and Sprint competitions and collected bronze in the Team Sprint and 500m TT events. Becky was awarded the Oustanding Performance of the Year at the recent USN Welsh Cycling Awards in Cardiff.
As part of the Great Britain Team Pursuit Cycling Squad, Elinor Barker has been shortlisted for Team of the Year. Elinor has made rapid progress from junior to senior rider over the last year. As part of Team USN, Wales' UCI track trade team, she earned her first medal in senior competition at the UCI Track World Cup, Cali. During the winter, the Cardiff cyclist became part of the Great Britain Team Pursuit Squad and earned her first senior world title at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in February , alongside Dani King and Laura Trott. The Team Pursuit Squad have continued to achieve since the World Championships, most recently setting a world record of 4:19.604 at the Manchester UCI Track World Cup.
The Awards celebrate the outstanding contribution to sport made by elite performers, coaches, administrators, community volunteers and inspirational female figures – and 2013 promises to be the most spectacular in the event’s 26-year history. On the evening of Thursday, December 5, for the first time, the Awards will be broadcast live by Sky.
The awards are supported by the Sport and Recreation Alliance, UK Sport, Sport England and the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation.
Shortlists
The winners of the following awards will be chosen by our selected panel of judges, and announced at the live award show on December 5.
The Sunday Times & Sky Sports Sportswoman of the Year
Charlotte Dujardin, Heather Knight, Becky James, Christine Ohuruogu, Shelley Rudman, Non Stanford
Young Sportswoman of the Year (21 years or younger)
Dina Asher-Smith, Charley Hull, Becky James, Katarina Johnson-Thompson
Disability Sports Person of the Year
Hannah Cockroft, Sophie Hahn, Amy Marren, Eleanor Simmonds
Community Award
Rimla Akhtar, Karen Edwards, Brenda Prescott, Ros Spearing
Other Awards
The winners of the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Helen Rollason Award for Inspiration will be announced on the evening.
Team of the year (To be decided by public vote)
England cricket team
England won the women’s Ashes last summer. The team drew the one-off Test match before winning the ODI and Twenty20 matches 2-1 and 3-0 respectively to secure victory by 12 points to 4
England netball team
England lost only one Test match in 2013 and had series victories against Australia, Jamaica and South Africa. They beat Australia, ranked No 1 in the world, 3-0 in January
Europe’s Solheim cup team
Thanks to contributions from British golfers Catriona Matthew, Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Charley Hull, Europe lifted the Solheim Cup for the first time on American soil. They won 18-10 in Colorado
Great Britain's team pursuit cycling squad
Olympic champions Laura Trott and Dani King and debutante Elinor Barker won the women’s 3km team pursuit at the world track championships in Minsk in February
You can vote for your Team of the Year online, on the Sunday Times and Sky Sports websites. More information here.
