Athletics world champions among contenders for 2019 Sports Personality of the Year award

World 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith and world heptathlon gold medallist Katarina Johnson-Thompson have been included on the six-strong shortlist for BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Both athletes broke British records when claiming their respective titles at the IAAF World Championships in Doha, with Asher-Smith clocking 21.88 to win the 200m and also improving her national 100m mark with 10.83 for world silver, while Johnson-Thompson bettered Jessica Ennis-Hill’s UK heptathlon record with a 6981-point score.

Asher-Smith also formed part of Britain’s silver medal-winning 4x100m team in Doha and won the 100m Diamond League trophy, while Johnson-Thompson gained European indoor pentathlon gold in Glasgow earlier in the year.

So it’s out!! I’ve been nominated for BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year!!! ???

This is so amazing, thank you @stormzy! Can’t wait for the 15th ? https://t.co/w1fpk59leG

— Dina Asher-Smith (@dinaashersmith) November 25, 2019

Also nominated are cricketer Ben Stokes, Formula 1 star Lewis Hamilton, footballer Raheem Sterling and rugby union’s Alun Wyn Jones.

Public voting will take place during the live Sports Personality of the Year show on BBC One on December 15, which will be broadcast from Aberdeen in Scotland.

Honours for Greatest Sporting Moment, World Sport Star of the Year, the Helen Rollason Award, Unsung Hero, Coach of the Year, Team of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Award will also be announced on the night.

The 10-time global track gold medallist Mo Farah won the top SPOTY prize in 2017, while double Olympic gold medallist Kelly Holmes claimed the award in 2004.

Seb Coe, Daley Thompson, Fatima Whitbread and Paula Radcliffe are other athletics stars to have received the honour in the past.