Elise Christie named 2017 Sportswoman of the Year
Thursday 30 November 2017 14:48, UK
Elise Christie was crowned Sunday Times 2017 Sportswoman of the Year at Thursday night's awards ceremony in London.
The former Sky Sports Scholar capped a great year by lifting the prestigious award, having claimed three world titles in Rotterdam in March.
The 27-year-old Scot endured a tough time at the 2014 Winter Olympics but has bounced back and took her career to new heights in Rotterdam, claiming golds in the 1000m, 1500m and overall competition.
A delighted Christie said: "I was lucky enough to be backed by the Sky Scholarship programme, and UK Sport and everyone on my national team really helped me to get through that, it was really rough.
"I can't believe I turned it all around. Imagine, if I had quit I wouldn't be standing up here."
Christie emerged triumphant from a strong shortlist and the runners-up were the Taekwondo world champion Bianca Walkden and the Wimbledon semi-finalist and World No 9 Johanna Konta.
The other winners on the night included Ellie Downie, who was named the Young Sportswoman of the Year.
The 18-year-old artistic gymnast has enjoyed a very successful 2017, despite the disappointment of missing the World Championships because she was recovering after an ankle injury.
Downie had earlier won four medals at the European Championships in April, including gold in the all-around, the first British gymnast to win a major all-around title.
The Team of the Year Award went to the England cricket squad, who provided one of the highlights of the year when they won the World Cup on home soil in the summer.
Heather Knight's side lost their first match of the tournament to India but bounced back to reach the knock-out stages and then defeated South Africa by two wickets in a thrilling semi-final.
And, in front of a packed crowd at Lord's, England took revenge over India in the final, recovering from a parlous position to win an enthralling encounter by nine runs.
Hannah Cockroft was named Disability Sportswoman of the Year, after another superb 12 months.
The 25-year-old wheelchair racer picked up three golds at the 2017 World Championships in London, in the T34 100m, 200m and 800m.
Anoushe Husain was the winner of the Helen Rollason Award for Inspiration, Margaret Palmer claimed the Community Award and Caz Walton OBE was a deserved winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award, having competed at numerous events at the Paralympics between 1964 and 1976, before going on to manage the British team.
