Hannah Mills on the shortlist for BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year
by Hamish Stuart 27 Nov 2019 21:57 UTC
Hannah Mills © British Sailing Team / Richard Langdon
Olympic gold medal winning sailor Hannah Mills has been nominated on the shortlist for the BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year Award.
She is one of eight Welsh sports stars nominated after this summer adding the 470 Class World Championships, with sailing partner Eilidh McIntyre, to her illustrious list of achievements.
Winning gold in Japan, along with a silver in the Olympic test event on the same waters in Enoshima 11 days later, bodes well for a defence of her title at next year's Tokyo Olympics.
RYA Cymru Wales chief executive Gerwyn Owen is urging the Welsh boating community to get behind Mills and vote for her to win the overall award in the face of some stiff competition.
"Hannah has been one of the most successful sports people in Wales for a few years now and adding gold in Japan next year would make her the most successful ever British Olympic sailor," said Owen.
"There is no question she is deserving of such an accolade as the BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year Award, but that is only part of the story.
"People need to vote for her and in the year when she became a world champion I would urge the Welsh boating community to do just that."
The winner will be revealed during the Wales Sport Awards at the Celtic Manor Resort, Newport, on Tuesday, 10 December 2019 after a public vote.
You will be able to vote by telephone or online for the nominee of your choice. Voting will open at 07:30 GMT on Monday, 2 December and will close on 18:00 GMT on Sunday, 8 December.
Full details on how to vote will be available in English on www.bbc.co.uk/sport/wales and in Welsh on www.bbc.co.uk/cymrufyw as well as a full profile of each candidate.
The BBC Cymru Wales citation reads, "Mills, with sailing partner Eilidh McIntyre, claimed gold at the 470 Class World Championships in Enoshima, Japan, in August, racing on the same stretch of water that will host the Tokyo 2020 Olympic regatta. The pair returned to Enoshima 11 days later to add a silver in the Olympic test event."
The other athletes nominated are Para-athletics javelin thrower Hollie Arnold, cyclist Elinor Barker, Para-alpine skier Menna Fitzpatrick, Para-athletics shot putter Sabrina Fortune, Wales rugby union captain Alun Wyn Jones, taekwondo athlete Jade Jones, and boxer Lauren Price.