Lionesses hero Mary Earps named BBC Sports Personality of the Year
Lionesses goalkeeper Mary Earps has been named the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year.
Earps – who claimed the Golden Glove after her heroic performance at the 2023 Women’s World Cup – was the firm favourite for the award after emerging from the tournament as an icon of women’s sport.
Accepting the award, the Manchester United star said: “Thanks for voting for me, everybody that voted for me. I’m honoured and humbled – for me, this is the ultimate all-round sporting accolade. Us as Lionesses, and United as well, have had an incredible couple of years.”
The player, who recalled saving penalties when taking up football “in the back garden with my brother and my dad”, also spoke about being dropped from the England team after the 2019 World Cup before her comeback under Sarina Wiegman.
“It’s not been the easiest journey,” she said, “and I wouldn’t be where I am without some incredible people in my corner… and thanks to them I’ve done more than I can ever imagine.”
Cricketer Stuart Broad was the runner-up and Katarina Johnson-Thompson came third.
Also on the shortlist were jockey Frankie Dettori, tennis player Alfie Hewett and golfer Rory McIlroy.
Earps’ victory comes a year after her fellow Lioness Beth Mead clinched the award – joining the ranks of past winners such as Dame Kelly Holmes, Sir Andy Murray and Sir Lewis Hamilton.
Earps, whose stunning saves contributed to the team’s victory at the 2022 Euros, nearly pulled off the same feat at the World Cup final, saving a penalty from Spain’s Jennifer Hermoso – though the team ultimately slipped to a 1-0 defeat.
The Sports Personality of the Year ceremony also saw presenter Gabby Logan call out the sex assault scandal that stemmed from the World Cup final, after since-ousted Spanish FA president Luis Rubiales kissed Hermoso on the lips without her consent.
Logan said: “We look forward to the day when there’s no need to defend or justify, and no need to pick battles and push open doors.”
Alex Scott quoted Maya Angelou, adding: “‘Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it, possibly without claiming it, she stands up for all women.”
Earps also hit the headlines during the World Cup when she spoke about the hurt she felt that sportswear manufacturer Nike had not made her England goalkeeper’s replica jersey available to purchase before the tournament.
After mounting pressure, the sports brand released her green long-sleeved Lionesses shirt, and it sold out in five minutes.
Earps told Sky News at the weekend she thought the company had learned its lesson.
“They know that they got this wrong and that’s why they’ve done this correction – a big company like Nike, they wouldn’t do that if they didn’t know it wasn’t right and that there was an injustice there,” she said.
“They did the right thing and I can’t thank the public enough for their support and we wouldn’t be in this position without it.
“I was really ‘um-ing and ah-ing’ whether to use my voice and to speak on it or not. I thought I was just speaking for a niche of goalkeepers, but it turned out to be support from much wider group of people.
“I think from that, collectively, we’ve really changed the world, so thank you to everyone.”
Broad announced he was retiring from cricket during the fifth Ashes Test in the summer and bowed out in spectacular fashion. The 37-year-old hit a six off his final ball and took the final wicket as England won the match to level the series, though Australia retained the urn.
Dettori, 53, secured a series of big wins in his farewell year in UK racing, including the 2000 Guineas on Chaldean and the Oaks on Soul Sister. He is set to continue riding in the United States next year.
Johnson-Thompson claimed the world heptathlon title for the second time in Budapest in the summer after a calf injury wrecked her hopes of Olympic glory in Tokyo in 2021.
Hewett won seven wheelchair tennis singles tournaments in 2023, including the Australian and US Open titles. He also secured the doubles titles at the Australian and French Opens plus Wimbledon alongside partner Gordon Reid.
McIlroy was a key part of Europe’s victorious Ryder Cup-winning team in October and finished in the top 10 at three of the year’s four majors.
Additional reporting by Press Association
