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Press Releases
91Èȱ¬ 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 91Èȱ¬ Sports Personality Of The Year 2008 on 91Èȱ¬ 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 91Èȱ¬ Sport's John Inverdale and includes two representatives from Youth Sport Trust; Jake Humphrey (91Èȱ¬ Sport); two former Young Sports Personality of the Year winners, Kate Haywood and Harry Aikines-Aryeetey; a representative from Sports Personality of the Year, C91Èȱ¬ and 91Èȱ¬ 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 91Èȱ¬.
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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 91Èȱ¬ 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 91Èȱ¬ 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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