Double Commonwealth gold medallist and Loughborough College student Sophie Thornhill has been announced as a contender for the prestigious BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.
The accolade goes to the outstanding young sportsperson of the year, aged 17 or under on 1 January 2014, selected from nominations made to the BBC and by sports governing bodies via the Youth Sport Trust. Previous winners include another Loughborugh College student, Ellie Simmonds and former College student Harry Aikines-Aryeete as well as Wayne Rooney, Tom Daley and Andy Murray.
Sophie was selected for the England 2014 Commonwealth Games team, when para cycling appeared for the first time, and triumphed on the first day in Glasgow this summer with Helen Scott in the Sprint B2 and won a second gold with Helen when they returned to the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome for the 1,000-metre B2 time-trial.
The 18 year old Loughborough College Sport student, who is visually impaired, was already a double world champion after she and pilot Rachel James won gold medals in the tandem 1km time trial and the sprint at Sophie’s first major international competition, the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, in April 2014. They also broke the world record in the qualifying round of the sprint with a flying start time over 200m of 10.854 seconds.
Sophie and Rachel reunited to compete in the 2014 British National Track Championships in September, where they won the mixed time trial and the 200m flying start time trial for blind and visually impaired riders.
The BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year shortlist was drawn by a panel, chaired by BBC Sport's John Inverdale, which includes representatives of the Youth Sport Trust, 2013 Sports Personality nominee Hannah Cockroft and Radio 1's Tina Daheley.
The panel decide the top ten contenders and the top three from the list of nominations, choosing a winner by secret ballot. The top three will be announced live on Blue Peter on Thursday 11 December on CBBC, and the winner will be announced live on stage at BBC Sports Personality of the Year, taking place this year at the SSE Hydro Arena in Glasgow Sunday 14 December, and broadcasting live on BBC One and BBC One HD. The event will be presented by Gary Lineker, Clare Balding and Gabby Logan. In addition to Young Sports Personality of the Year there will also be seven othe awards including Sports Personality of the Year, Team of the Year, Overseas Sports Personality of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Award.
Sophie’s fellow nominees are: Alicia Blagg – Diving; Erraid Davies – Para-swimming; Claudia Fragapane – Gymnastics; Jade Jones – Wheelchair racing; Morgan Lake – Athletics; Bradley Neil – Golf; Rebeka Simon – Canoeing; Sophie Thornhill – Para-cycling; Rebekah Tiler – Weightlifting; Nile Wilson – Gymnastics
Pictured: Sophie Thornhill (left) after winning gold at the Commonwealth Games