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Press Releases
Â鶹Éç Young Sports Personality of the Year 2008 top three unveiled
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The three contenders for the prestigious Young Sports Personality of the Year award are announced today as: Olympic diver Tom Daley, Wimbledon tennis star Laura Robson and Paralympic double gold medallist, swimmer Eleanor Simmonds.
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The trio of stars have been whittled down from an original shortlist of ten, with the winner being announced at Â鶹Éç Sports Personality Of The Year 2008 on Â鶹Éç One, Sunday 14 December, 7.00-9.00pm.
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The live event will be held at Liverpool's Echo Arena for the first time and is a sell-out with around 9,000 people attending, making it the biggest Sports Personality ever.
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Last year's winner, Tom, was Britain's youngest competitor at the Beijing Olympics and is the second-youngest British male Olympian of all time. He came seventh and eighth in the 10m individual platform and synchronised diving events.
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Laura was crowned Wimbledon junior champion this summer – she was the youngest player in the entire tournament and the first Briton since Annabel Croft in 1984 to win the junior girls' title.
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Paralympic swimmer Eleanor won double gold in the 100m freestyle S6 and 400m freestyle S6 in Beijing this year, and is Britain's youngest-ever individual Paralympic gold medallist.
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The award is made to the outstanding young sportsperson aged 16 or under on 1 January 2008.
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Previous winners include Andy Murray, Wayne Rooney and Theo Walcott.
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The live show will be presented by Sue Barker, Gary Lineker and Jake Humphrey.
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In addition to Young Sports Personality of the Year there will also be awards for:
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Sports Personality of the Year
Team of the Year
Coach of the Year
Overseas Sports Personality of the Year
Lifetime Achievement
Helen Rollason Award
Sports Unsung Hero (supported by Robinsons)
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For voting criteria on all the Awards, further information and updates please visit bbc.co.uk/sportspersonality.
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Notes to Editors
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For further background on the judging process please see below:
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The panel is chaired by Â鶹Éç Sport's John Inverdale and includes two representatives from Youth Sport Trust; Jake Humphrey (Â鶹Éç Sport); two former Young Sports Personality of the Year winners, Kate Haywood and Harry Aikines-Aryeetey; a representative from Sports Personality of the Year, CÂ鶹Éç and Â鶹Éç Switch.
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The panel met to choose the top 10 contenders on 10 November 2008 from the list of nominations collected by the Youth Sport Trust and the Â鶹Éç.
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The panel reconvened two weeks later on 24 November 2008 to select the top three and the winner from the top 10 list.
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The top three and the winner were selected by secret ballot.
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The top three will be invited to the live event and the other seven contenders will be notified out of courtesy that they have not made the final shortlist.
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The winner will be announced live on the Sports Personality of the Year show and the Â鶹Éç Sport website on Sunday 14 December 2008.
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The award will be made to the outstanding young sportsperson aged 16 or under on 1 January 2008, selected from nominations made to the Â鶹Éç and by sports governing bodies via the Youth Sport Trust.
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People are eligible to win the award if they are the right age and they are British or fulfil all three of the following criteria:
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They play a significant amount of their sport in the UK.
Their core achievements that year were achieved in the UK, and not with a national team (in which case they would more likely qualify for the Overseas award).
They are residents in the UK.
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The final judging process was independently verified. Ìý
SB4
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