BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2024 shortlist revealed including two Greater Manchester sporting heroes

The nominees for this year's BBC Sports Personality of the Year award have been announced.

Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson, from Atherton, near Wigan, and Paralympic record-breaker Dame Sarah Storey, from Stockport, are among the six stars in the running for the prestigious award.

They are joined by teenage darts sensation Luke Littler, England footballer Jude Bellingham, cricket legend Joe Root and Olympic gold medallist Alex Yee.

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Hodgkinson, 22, is the favourite to claim the prize after winning 800 metres gold in Paris in the summer. She also took European Championships gold and her new British record of one minute 54.61 seconds made her the sixth fastest woman in history over the distance.

Should Hodgkinson win, it would be the first time the award has been given to female athletes four years in a row – with Mary Earps, Beth Mead and Emma Raducanu the last three winners.

Triathlete Yee and cyclist Storey both shone in Paris. Yee went into the Olympics as favourite for gold but looked set to miss out to New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde only to stage a remarkable recovery in the closing stages of the race.

He also helped Britain take bronze in the team relay and went on to win a first world triathlon title.

Storey turned 47 in October but that did not stop her continuing to dominate on two wheels, winning the time trial for a fifth successive Paralympics and road race for a fourth, taking her tally of gold medals to 19.

Littler is in the running for Young Sports Personality of the Year but could also win the main award after becoming one of the most talked-about teenagers in Britain. The 17-year-old made headlines when he