BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year 2021 top three announced

ude Bellingham - Age: 18; Sport: Football

Bellingham's rapid rise continued in 2021 as he established himself at senior level for club and country. The midfielder helped Dortmund win the 2021 German Cup in May and was voted newcomer of the season by his fellow players. Bellingham was then included in Gareth Southgate's England squad for Euro 2020, making three substitute appearances as they reached the final. The first of those games, against Croatia at Wembley in June, saw him become the youngest Englishman to play at a major tournament, aged 17 years and 349 days.

Sky Brown - Age: 13; Sport: Skateboarding

Sky Brown became Great Britain's youngest Olympic medallist of all

time when she claimed bronze in the women's park skateboarding final at Tokyo at the age of 13 years and 28 days. The teeanger had already broken Margery Hinton's record, which stood for 93 years, as the youngest athlete to represent Team GB at a summer Games. Brown, who has never had a professional coach and instead learns tricks from YouTube videos, also won gold in the women's skateboard park event at the Summer X Games in California in July.

Ellie Challis - Age: 17; Sport: Para-swimming

Swimmer Ellie Challis became Paralympic GB's youngest medallist when she won silver at the Tokyo Paralympics in August. She finished second in the S3 women's 50m backstroke event just two years after making her international debut at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships. Challis was the only elite British female in her class in Tokyo and the only Briton, male or female, in the S1-S4 categories.

The shortlist was selected by an esteemed panel from nominations made by British national governing bodies including: Skateboard GB, British Cycling, British Athletics, British Paralympic Association, Squash England and Table Tennis Wales. 

The panel included five-time Paralympic champion Ellie Simmonds, double winter Olympian Aimee Fuller, St Helens winger Regan Grace and representatives from Blue Peter, Youth Sport Trust and BBC Sport.

The  BBC  Young  Sports  Personality  of  the  Year  is  awarded  to  an  outstanding  young  sportsperson  who  was  aged  17  or  under  on  1  January  2021.  

For voting criteria on all awards please visit bbc.co.uk/sportspersonality