SJA British Sports Awards

The Sports Journalists’ Association British Sports Awards is an annual gala occasion in which members of the SJA – more than 700 of the country’s leading sports writers, editors, photographers and broadcasters – vote for the Sportsman, Sportswoman and Team of the Year in the longest-established awards of their kind in Britain.

The SJA awards have always led the way, establishing the country’s first award specifically for sportswomen, and in 1963, introduced the first award for what today is called para sport.

Since 2012, the SJA British Sports Awards have been generously sponsored by The National Lottery, who through two decades and £6 billion of funding, have transformed the fortunes of many of Britain’s sports.

The SJA British Sports Awards has a history dating back to 1949 and the December lunch regularly attracts some of the biggest names in British sport.

Past winners of these awards have included F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton, Olympic gold medal-winning heptathlete Jessica Ennis, Wimbledon champion and Olympic gold medallist Andy Murray, cycling giant Chris Hoy, swimming great Rebecca Adlington, 20-time champion jump jockey AP McCoy, Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins and record-breaking runner Paula Radcliffe.

In 2024, our Sportsman of the Year was triathlete Alex Yee; our Sportswoman of the Year was middle-distance runner Keely Hodgkinson; and the Great Britain rowing team at the Paris Olympics were named Team of the Year.