Sports Personality of the Year 2019: Ben Stokes, Doddie Weir dominate social media
- Published
What a night for England's Ben Stokes.
The 28-year-old cricketer was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2019 in front of a packed crowd in Aberdeen.
It's been quite a year already for Stokes, after helping England win the men's World Cup for the first time in their history, whilst also hitting an unbeaten 135 in his side's epic third Ashes Test triumph against Australia.
Stokes now has the SPOTY crown, too, after finishing ahead of runner-up Lewis Hamilton, and third-placed Dina Asher-Smith.
Needless to say, Stokes was trending on social media with everyone expressing their feelings on his victory.
While Stokes was the man of the moment, the rest of the England team deserved some recognition too. The World Cup squad were named Team of the Year, and Jos Buttler breaking the stumps in the final was named the Greatest Sporting Moment.
Second-placed Hamilton also got his fair share of praise on Twitter, after his incredible year winning his sixth Formula 1 world title.
And we all know that Asher-Smith stole the nation's hearts during the World Athletics in Doha, where she became the first British woman to win a sprint title at a major championships.
What makes nights like these particularly special are those moments that really tug on the heartstrings - and everyone was definitely feeling it during the show.
Former Scotland rugby player Doddie Weir won the Helen Rollason Award for his incredible work building his charity, the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation, which seeks to research and improve the lives of those with motor neurone disease.
He was diagnosed with the disease in 2016 and his speech certainly got everyone feeling inspired...
The inspirational stories did not end there, as 11-time Paralympic champion Baroness Grey-Thompson received her Lifetime Achievement award.
Even though the main award show finished, the tears continued to flow backstage.
Former Welsh rugby star Gareth Thomas took on the Sport Relief Tour de Trophy challenge and cycled from Wales to Aberdeen in just a week - covering 500 miles.
He made it to the arena in time to deliver the award... and was then surprised by his husband at the end.
Same again next year?