Sports Personality of the Year 2022: Gadirova, Mead, Muirhead, Stokes, O'Sullivan, Wightman up for award

(Clockwise from top left) Jessica Gadirova, Beth Mead, Eve Muirhead, Jake Wightman, Ben Stokes and Ronnie O'Sullivan

A shortlist of six contenders has been announced for the 2022 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

The nominees are gymnast Jessica Gadirova, footballer Beth Mead, curling's Eve Muirhead, cricketer Ben Stokes, snooker player Ronnie O'Sullivan and athlete Jake Wightman.

Voting will be open during the show on BBC One on Wednesday, 21 December.

Gary Lineker, Clare Balding, Gabby Logan and Alex Scott will present the 69th annual awards.

The programme, filmed at Media City in Salford, will celebrate 12 months of incredible sporting action.

The public can vote by phone or online on the night for the main award, with full details announced during the show.

Other awards to be announced include Young Sports Personality of the Year, Team and Coach of the Year, Unsung Hero and the Helen Rollason Award.

Eight-time sprinting gold medallist Usain Bolt will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement award, while football World Cup winner Lionel Messi is the World Sport Star of the Year.

• Sports Personality 2022 - All you need to know

Sports Personality contenders

Age: 18 Sport: Gymnastics

A rising star of British gymnastics, Gadirova claimed floor gold on the final day of the world championships.

It was the English gymnast's third medal at the event in Liverpool after winning silver in the team event and a historic bronze in the all-around competition.

That was Britain's first world all-around medal and Gadirova became only the fifth British gymnast to be individual world champion.

Gadirova, who took floor gold and team silver at the European Championships, is also on the Young Sports Personality shortlist along with skateboarder Sky Brown and diver Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix.

"I'm just so shocked to be in that shortlist with such incredible athletes and to be recognised for my hard work and achievements - it's incredible," she told BBC Sport.

Age: 27 Sport: Football

Mead won the Golden Boot and was player of the tournament as England claimed a historic triumph at Euro 2022.

The Lionesses lifted their first trophy at a major women's tournament with a 2-1 victory after extra time against eight-time champions Germany at Wembley.

"It was a proud moment for me and a surreal moment - walking out of that tunnel and going to play in front of a home crowd," Mead said of the final, watched by a record 87,192 crowd.

"The day in general, the noise in general, the atmosphere was honestly something I'll never feel or experience again."

Mead scored six goals and contributed five assists during the tournament as she bounced back from the disappointment of not being selected to represent Team GB at the Tokyo Olympics a year earlier.

The Arsenal forward was voted BBC Women's Footballer of the Year 2022 and was runner-up in the Women's Ballon d'Or, the prize awarded to the world's best footballer of the year.

Age: 32 Sport: Curling

Muirhead led the Great Britain women's team that won curling gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

As skip, she claimed an elusive gold medal in China at the fourth time of asking, the pinnacle of a career during which she became Scotland's most decorated curler.

"I look back and I still wonder how I got myself through lockdown, Covid, everything. It was such a rollercoaster, standing on the podium at the end of it all was very, very special," she told BBC Sport.

For Scotland, Muirhead claimed the mixed doubles world title earlier this year alongside Bobby Lammie, before later announcing her retirement from the sport.

Age: 47 Sport: Snooker

O'Sullivan claimed his seventh World Championship title to equal Stephen Hendry's record in the modern era.

Aged 46, he became the oldest world champion in Crucible history, eclipsing Ray Reardon, who won his sixth title aged 45 in 1978.

'The Rocket' cemented his position as one of snooker's all-time greats with an 18-13 final win against Judd Trump.

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

O'Sullivan, who has on occasion been outspoken about snooker and his fellow players, told BBC Sport: "The love/hate doesn't come from hating the game, I've always loved the game, just my frustrations would spill over and it would look like I had fallen out of love with the game.

"But it was only because I wasn't playing the game to the standard that I wanted to play."

Age: 31 Sport: Cricket

Stokes, the 2019 Sports Personality winner, starred as England won the men's T20 World Cup by beating Pakistan in a thrilling final.

Under intense pressure at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, Stokes was there at the end on 52 not out.

Having inherited a side with one win in their last 17 Tests, Stokes' England claimed nine victories from 10 games in increasingly audacious fashion against New Zealand, India, South Africa and Pakistan.

He captained England to one of their greatest overseas performances, with a bold declaration helping secure victory with a record run rate in their first Test in Pakistan for 17 years. It set his side on the path to a historic 3-0 series win.

Stokes told BBC Sport: "I think it shows that you don't have to be stuck in a particular way of playing Test cricket just because it's been done for however long, a long period of time. It's different but it's exciting to watch."

Age: 28 Sport: Athletics

Wightman produced a stunning run to take 1500m gold at the World Championships in Oregon.

The Scot was the first British man to win the world title in the event since Steve Cram in 1983.

He produced a brilliant final burst to pass Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and clinch the title, called home by his father Geoff who was the stadium announcer.

"It's that moment you cross the line, it's just such euphoria, I just wish you could bottle that up because it soon fades away a little bit," Wightman told BBC Sport.

"The disbelief and the shock are something that I will never have again."

Wightman also won 800m silver at the European Championships and 1500m bronze at the Commonwealth Games.

• Sports Personality of the Year: Terms and conditions

• Sports Personality of the Year: Frequently asked questions

Who was on the judging panel?

The industry panel for this year's BBC Sports Personality of the Year included former Olympian Denise Lewis and Paralympian Kelly Gallagher as well as ex-snooker player Stephen Hendry.

Sports journalists Nancy Gillen (GiveMeSport), Jack Fox (Metro) and Tumaini Carayol (The Guardian) were also on the 2022 panel, in addition to Sue Butler (head of sports, S4C) and Sally Munday (CEO, UK Sport).

Representing the BBC were director of sport Barbara Slater, head of TV sport Philip Bernie and Sports Personality of the Year executive producer Gabby Cook.