Katie Falkingham
BBC Sport gymnastics reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Britain’s gymnasts hadn’t quite finished rewriting those history books.

Come November, more was made as Giarnni Regini-Moran defied the brutal injuries that have dogged his career to date to become the first British man to be crowned world champion on floor, edging out Japan’s Olympic and world champion in the process.

And just 24 hours later, another floor gold was headed Great Britain’s way as 18-year-old Jessica Gadirova took the women’s title – her third medal of the championships after earlier winning women’s team silver and an historic all-around bronze.

GB’s men’s team also reached the podium with bronze, while Rhys McClenaghan became Ireland's first gymnastics world champion as he won gold on the pommel horse.

Away from artistic gymnastics, 17-year-old tumbler Comfort Yeates won World Championship gold, with GB tumblers also standing atop the podiums in the men’s and women’s team events. On the trampolines, Bryony Page won individual world silver before helping her country to all-around team gold.

Katie Falkingham
BBC Sport gymnastics reporter

Image source, Getty Images

2022 was a medal-filled year for Britain’s gymnasts, with three major competitions falling inside four months. First up was the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where Jake Jarman put his name on the map with a record-breaking four titles as Team England topped the standings with 18 medals, including 11 golds.

In addition to Jarman’s haul, two of those golds – men’s pommel horse and parallel bars - went in the way of Joe Fraser, Courtney Tulloch stood atop the rings podium, Georgia-Mae Fenton and Alice Kinsella took the uneven bars and floor titles respectively in addition to helping England to team gold, and Marfa Ekimova of England and Wales’ Gemma Frizelle won rhythmic gymnastics golds.

Yet there was little time to take a breath as attentions quickly turned to the European Championships in Munich, where Britain recorded their best-ever artistic gymnastics European medal haul, ending with five golds, three silvers and three bronzes in total.

Among those golds, Fraser became GB’s first male European all-around champion while Jarman made history as the first British gymnast to win European vault gold. But they weren’t finished there…

BBC One

Young Sports Personality of the Year winner Jessica Gadirova speaking to BBC One: "Obviously the year started with the Commonwealths, we did amazing to come away with a team gold. At the Europeans we achieved silver which helped us qualify for the Worlds.

"To be in the home crowd at Liverpool was such an incredible experience. The girls were just amazing. To come second in the team final was amazing. Then to top it all over achieving gold on the floor.

"I knew it was the last comp so I gave it my all, blocked everything out and put the best performance out for Great Britain.

"Jennifer [Jessica’s sister] just means the world to me, we’ve grown up side by side. To be on the floor final with me just melts my heart. I couldn’t imagine not being there with her, I love you Jen."

The fifth individual British world champion gymnast in history. The first British woman to win a world all-around medal. European champion once again.

What a year it has been for Jessica Gadirova.

Let's hear what she makes of it all...

And the Young Sports Personality of the Year 2022 is...

Jessica Gadirova!

We'll hear from Jessica Gadirova shortly.

She's now been joined on stage by Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix, while Sky Brown is with us on video, and as we're about to find out who has won this year's Young Sports Personality of the Year.

Not only is Jessica Gadirova in the running for Young Sports Personality of the Year, but the 18-year-old is also in contention for tonight's main award after a stellar year.

Jessica Gadirova became only the fifth British gymnast to win an individual world title as she claimed floor gold in Liverpool in November.

Among three World Championship medals in total, she also became the first British woman to win a world all-around medal, with bronze in that event.

That came after the 18-year-old successfully defended her European floor title in Munich in August, in addition to helping Great Britain win European and world team event silver medals.

Diver Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix enjoyed a hugely successful year, medalling at all three of the major meets on offer.

Winner of the Young Sports Personality award in 2020, the 18-year-old won three medals at the Commonwealth Games with golds in the 10m platform and 10m mixed synchro alongside Noah Williams, plus a team bronze.

She also won golds at the European Championships in the 10m platform and 10m synchro, together with a bronze in the team event, while she secured another bronze at the World Championships.

Sky Brown won the Young Sports Personality award last year after winning Olympic bronze in Tokyo and she has once again made the shortlist following a strong 2022.

The 14-year-old skateboarder successfully defended her X Games title, producing a trick-laden, fall-free performance against stiff competition.

She also took gold in Des Moines on the Dew Tour, beating Olympic champion Sakura Yosozumi.

BBC One

Sport Personality of the Year contender Ronnie O'Sullivan speaking to BBC One about his longevity, his seventh world title and his chances of a record eighth: "It’s just an appetite to love the game, to play. I love competing, when you love what you do you can't wait to get out of bed every day.

"At my age I was more tired, so getting over the line when I physically didn’t feel I had it in me. The enormity of it hits you a bit more. Before it felt quite comfortable. All those feelings hit me at once.

"The top players rise to the big occasions. The Crucible is a venue like no other, the pressure it provides can make or break you.

"When I first turned pro, I was happy with one World Championship. That was my dream. I never try to get greedy, each one is a bonus. If I was to get to eight, fantastic, but there are a lot of young players coming through. Age might be catching up with me."

Don’t forget, if you plan to cast your vote online this evening rather than by phone, you'll need to sign in to your BBC account.

If you haven't already got one, just follow this link HERE to register.

The vote will open later in the show once we've heard from each of our six contenders, and when it does you will be able to vote online HERE, by telephone or by scanning our new QR code displayed on screen during the show which will take you directly to the vote page.

Frank Keogh
BBC Sport horse racing reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Rachael Blackmore made more history in 2022 as she became the first female jockey to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup, on the Henry de Bromhead-trained A Plus Tard.

Amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen bowed out with a fairytale victory in the Grand National, on his last competitive ride, aboard 50-1 outsider Noble Yeats for Emmet Mullins.

Veteran trainers enjoyed success on the Flat with Desert Crown winning the Derby at Epsom for Sir Michael Stoute while Sir Mark Prescott claimed a first Prix de l’Arc Triomphe thanks to Alpinista.

Baaeed clocked up four Group One wins at Newbury, Ascot, Goodwood and York but his unbeaten run ended when fourth to Bay Bridge in his final race on British Champions Day when seeking an 11th consecutive victory.

The sport mourned its most famous supporter with the death of Queen Elizabeth II aged 96. "Racing has lost its best friend," said trainer Nicky Henderson.

And legendary jockey Lester Piggott, who won the Derby a record nine times in a career which yielded 4,493 winners, died aged 86.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

A look back now at some horse racing this year, as Rachael Blackmore won the Cheltenham Gold Cup on A Plus Tard. She is in attendance at Sports Personality of the Year along with Grand National winner Sam Waley-Cohen.

"It's just incredible for us the Gold Cup and the Grand National are our Olympic gold medals. They are the pinnacle of our sport so I feel so lucky to say I have won them," she said.

Waley-Cohen won the Grand National on board 50/1 Noble Yeats having announced he would retire after the race.

"My earliest dream was to ride in the National so to be there and get on the back of a horse in front was more than I could've hoped of," he said.

"I rode the race 10 times, I completed it seven and came back in an ambulance three times. It was extraordinary."

Steve Sutcliffe
BBC Sport snooker reporter

Image source, Getty Images

The year began with Australia’s Neil Robertson setting the standard as he won a second Masters’ title.

And a stirring fightback saw Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen complete a famous victory in November’s UK Championship.

However, in between, 2022 was all about Ronnie O’Sullivan. ‘The Rocket’, who recently turned 47, saw off the likes of John Higgins and Judd Trump as he claimed a seventh World Championship triumph to equal Stephen Hendry’s record in the modern era.

It was a fine way to cap his record-equalling 30th appearance at the Crucible, ensuring he ended the season on top of the world rankings – a position he still occupies.

Ronnie O'Sullivan's seventh world title means he has equalled Stephen Hendry's modern era record - as well as cementing his position as one of snooker's all-time greats.

Aged 46, 'The Rocket' became the oldest world champion in Crucible history, eclipsing Ray Reardon, who won his sixth title aged 45 in 1978, with an 18-13 final win against Judd Trump.

It was a 39th ranking title for O'Sullivan, holder of almost every major record in the game, who also won the Champion of Champions and Hong Kong Masters in 2022.

Yes, twenty-one years after his first World Championship victory, Ronnie O'Sullivan secured that record-equalling triumph in 2022.

7 - Ronnie O'Sullivan won a record-equalling seventh snooker World Championship.

He is of course another of our six contenders for tonight's main award, along with Jessica Gadirova, Beth Mead, Eve Muirhead, Ben Stokes and Jake Wightman.

Image source, Getty Images