BBC's Sports Personality of the Year
BBC's Sports Personality of the Year is usually dominated by men but this year with the success of Lizzy Yarnold, Jo Pavey, Charlotte Dujardin and Kelly Gallagher the women’s sporting landscape in Britain has rarely looked brighter.
Kelly Gallagher, Charlotte Dujardin, Lizzie Yarnold. Jo Pavey: 40 per cent of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year shortlist are women.
It is a reflection of a soaring year of achievement for British sportswomen.
Yarnold and Gallagher set the tone for the year in Sochi.
First Yarnold shot down the skeleton bob slope, to seize the gold medal.
Then Gallagher won the Winter Paralympics downhill for the visually impaired.
Meanwhile Pavey proved in the European Championship 10,000 metres in Zurich that 40 is the new 20.
She beat a field of athletes half her age to steal her first championship title.
Then came Charlotte Dujardin, the woman who puts the elegance into equestrianism.
She added a world championship title to her Olympic victories in the Greenwich Arena in 2012.
And it is not just individualists thriving, women’s team sport is on the march.
In September, the England women’s rugby team seized the World Cup.
While their footballing counterparts qualified for their World Cup with a perfect campaign.
The women’s sporting landscape in Britain has rarely looked brighter.