Young Sports Personality 2023: Mia Brookes, Penny Healey & Charlie McIntyre on shortlist
- Published
(Left to right) Mia Brookes, Charlie McIntyre and Penny Healey are shortlisted for Young Sports Personality of the Year 2023
BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2023 |
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Venue: MediaCityUK, Salford Date: Tuesday, 19 December at 19:00 GMT Coverage: Live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app |
Snowboarder Mia Brookes, archer Penny Healey and wheelchair basketballer Charlie McIntyre have been shortlisted for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award.
A panel selected 10 outstanding young people from a longlist before narrowing that down to a top three.
The winner will be announced live on the BBC Sports Personality of the Year show on 19 December.
The show will be broadcast from 19:00 GMT and shown on BBC One.
Diver Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix won Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2020 and was on this year's judging panel.
She said: "It is incredible to see these athletes shining and dominating the senior field. At their age, to be able to handle that kind of pressure and bring back medals and titles is awe-inspiring."
Mia Brookes
Age: 16 Sport: Snowboarding
Achievements: Youngest ever freestyle snowboard world champion
Mia Brookes became the youngest world champion in snowboarding history when she won slopestyle gold in February, little more than a month after turning 16.
In winning the title, she also landed the first Cab 1440 double grab in a women's event.
Having been too young to compete at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Brookes - who started snowboarding aged 18 months - had only made her debut at World Cup level the previous October. She has made the World Cup podium on two other occasions - winning slopestyle silver in Laax in January and big air bronze in Chur in October.
Brookes, from Cheshire, said: "This year has been unreal, and to get a nomination for Young Sports Personality of the year is an incredible way to sum it up. A year ago, I'd never have believed I'd be in this position, and I'm just really grateful to everyone - my family, my coaches, the whole team - for supporting me along the way."
Penny Healey
Age: 18 Sport: Archery
Achievements: Double European Games gold and world number one ranking
Having won European Grand Prix gold in April, Penny Healey won her first individual World Cup title in Antalya, Turkey, later that month - a result that saw her rise to number one in the world rankings.
Healey, inspired to take up archery as a nine-year-old after watching the Disney film Brave, won double gold at the European Games, first in the women's recurve team event alongside Great Britain team-mates Bryony Pitman and Jaspreet Sagoo, before winning the individual recurve.
Her individual victory sealed a quota spot for Team GB at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Healey, from Shropshire, said: "I feel honoured to have been shortlisted! It's been a great year and being nominated for this award on top of that makes it even better."
Charlie McIntyre
Age: 18 Sport: Wheelchair basketball
Achievements: Premier Division title, Home Nations Championship title, EuroCup All-Star 5
In 2023, Charlie McIntyre led the Great Britain under-22 team to victory at the Home Nations Championship, winning all three of their games. Individually, McIntyre averaged 20 points per game.
With the London Titans, he won the Premier Division title and was named in the EuroCup All-Star 5 team of the tournament.
In the summer, he signed his first professional contract with Dinamo Sassari, going on to compete in the top division of Italian basketball.
McIntyre, from Essex, said: "I am absolutely honoured to have even made it on the list for the Young Sports Personality of the Year, let alone to have made it in the top three contenders. It feels so amazing."
Panel decides shortlist
The judging panel consisted of former England footballer Theo Walcott, triple European champion sprinter Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, double European champion diver Spendolini-Sirieix, and double Paralympic and world champion rower Lauren Rowles, as well as representatives from BBC Sport, Blue Peter and the Youth Sport Trust.
For voting criteria on all awards please visit bbc.co.uk/sport/sports-personality.
The 10 athletes - including the final three - shortlisted were:
Mia Brookes (snowboarding)
Sky Brown (skateboarding)
Ben Doak (football)
Cat Ferguson (cycling)
Penny Healey (archery)
Jack Jacobs (artistic gymnastics - Special Olympics)
Poppy Maskill (Para-swimming)
Charlie McIntyre (wheelchair basketball)
Toby Roberts (sport climbing)
Ranjuo Tomblin (artistic swimming)