It's that time of year again - the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award is set to be broadcast after yet another enthralling year for British sport.
With the hiccups of England's World Cup quarter final against France nothing but a distant memory now, sports fans can begin to concentrate on one of the most hotly-anticipated events of the year as 'SPOTY' comes to town. Winners in the past 20 years have included David Beckham, Andrew Flintoff, Ryan Giggs, Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu.
In fact, it was in last year's award that the latter that broke a 15-year barren spell of women failing to pick up the prestigious award following heroics at the US Open - where Raducanu won the entire women's singles championship without dropping a single set. Yet the heroics of six other sporting figures this season have seen a hugely talented shortlist evade the tennis starlet, with the silverware set to be announced on Wednesday. But who is in the running for the award? Let's find out.
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Beth Mead
Mead made an entire nation rejoice in pride over the summer as she led England's Lionesses to their first ever major international accolade alongside England's first as a footballing nation since the men won in 1966 over Germany when they won the 2022 Women's Euros.
The Whitby-born star has been a revelation in terms of promoting the women's game in a positive light, and as Player of the Tournament alongside being at the top of the assist charts for Euro 2022, her influence cannot be understated.
Jessica Gadirova
Gadirova is by far and away the youngest of the nominees after bursting onto the scene with a plethora of impressive gymnast performances.
The Dublin-born 18-year-old had taken gold in almost every floor exercise competition since 2021 - winning two European Championships, and one English and British Championship a piece as she already begins to stake her claim as a legend of the sport.
But it was the World Championships at the end of October where she made her name, winning the floor exercise to become just the second British woman after Beth Tweddle to do so.
Eve Muirhead
Muirhead was the spearhead of Team GB's only gold medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics, captaining her curling side to the gold medal after a comprehensive 10-3 win over Japan.
It was fourth-time lucky for the Scot, having only made bronze prior in Sochi in 2014. Yet that wasn't her only achievement - winning the mixed doubles world championship alongside Bobby Lammie, it has been a period of unprecedented success for Muirhead.
Ben Stokes
Everybody knows about Stokes' brilliance going into the SPOTY ceremony, but the England cricket star has seriously ramped up his persona this year by taking the bull by the horns and guiding England to new heights in test cricket.
A team formerly renowned for lacking bottle, guts and guile under former leadership, Stokes and new coach Brendon McCullum have forged a new, daring style of cricket which put risk ahead of safety - and it has paid off massively. Making a clean sweep of New Zealand, defeating South Africa and producing yet another clean sweep against Pakistan on Tuesday morning in a 3-0 series whitewash, Stokes' influence has been seismic.
Ronnie O'Sullivan
The man who just cannot stay away from the summit of snooker. O'Sullivan won his first major title in snooker all the way back in 1993 as a 17-year-old, since going on to win seven World Championships and countless major titles as a result.
The 47-year-old has shot to prominence again recently with a spell of incredible feats on at the table - and his 2022 World Championship win over Judd Trump at the Crucible only added to the mouthwatering trophy cabinet the man from Wordsley has mustered for himself.
Jake Wightman
Wightman was a relative unknown before this summer before winning the 1500m gold medal at the World Championships - to become the first Brit to do so since 1983.
Continuing this, he took bronze and silver in August for the 800 metres, before breaking Tom McKean's record of 1:44:95 in the 800m - thus breaking five of his own records in the calendar year.
With the Olympics nearing and on the horizon, Wightman is a fair shout to take gold in Paris should he take to the track.
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