This morning Greg James announced the top three contenders for BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year 2025 Award on the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show, with Cheshire darts prodigy Luke Littler flying the flag for the North.
Defending 2024 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year winner Littler’s 2025 has been another sensational year. On 3 January, the Warrington arrowmeister crushed three-time champ Michael van Gerwen 7–3 to become the youngest-ever PDC World Darts Champion at just 17.
He followed that by sealing his place among the sport’s greats by winning the UK Open, World Matchplay (completing the sport’s Triple Crown), World Grand Prix, Grand Slam of Darts, and the Players Championship Finals, becoming the youngest-ever world number one.
At just 18, his stratospheric rise, unmatched talent and unshakeable poise has made him the new face of darts, leading to huge growth of the sport in the UK and beyond.
Littler said: “Being nominated for Young Sports Personality of the Year again is a big honour. Last year’s win was a proud moment for me and I’ve had another incredible 12 months. I want to continue raising the profile of darts and bringing new fans into the sport.”
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Littler is joined in the race for this year’s title by Arsenal and Brighton footballer Michelle Agyemang and Midlands cricketer Davina Perrin.
Agyemang became England’s breakout star on their road to Women’s Euros glory in 2025. Bursting off the bench with ice-cold composure, she delivered back-to-back late equalisers in the quarter-final against Sweden and the semi-final against Italy, moments that transformed tight contests and had millions at the edge of their seats.
Perrin is one of English cricket’s most exciting young talents. The Wolverhampton-born star broke into senior cricket with Central Sparks shortly after her 15th birthday and has since carved out a reputation as a fearless, right-handed batter. She stormed the 2025 Women’s U19 T20 World Cup, ending as England’s second-top run scorer and earning a well-deserved spot in the Team of the Tournament. Probably her biggest moment of 2025 came in The Hundred during a high-stakes Eliminator, where she slammed a blistering 101 off just 43 balls, becoming the fastest centurion by an English woman in the competition’s history.
BBC Radio 1’s James said: “It’s such a great celebration of all the big sporting moments of the year and I am really happy to be the first person to tell you the top three contenders. You’ll have been glued to your screens in the summer for [Michelle’s] breakout performance in the Euros for England, [Luke] is a darts sensation and Davina is a real star of the future, it’s fun to watch someone doing sport – anyone doing sport – with no fear, and that’s what she does.”
The winner will be announced during BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards 2025 on Thursday 18 December at 7pm, live on BBC One and iPlayer.
