Andy Murray leads BBC Sports Personality of the Year nominees

Andy Murray leads the 16-person shortlist for the 2016 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. The 29-year-old won his second Wimbledon and Olympic singles titles before becoming the first Briton to finish the year as world number one.

The Scot, who is bidding to become the first ever three-time winner, is joined by two footballers — Jamie Vardy, the top scorer in Leicester City's Premier League title success, and Real Madrid and Wales's Gareth Bale. Equestrianism is represented by double Olympic champion Nick Skelton and three-time Rio Paralympic gold medallist Sophie Christiansen.

The captain of the Team GB women's hockey team which won gold in Rio, Helen Richardson-Walsh, is also among the nominees, as is Masters golf champion Danny Willett and the first ever double Olympic female boxing champion, Nicola Adams. Britain's first ever gymnastics Olympic champion, Max Whitlock, also features, as does 100m breaststroke world record holder Adam Peaty.

Kadeena Cox's remarkable feat of winning gold medals in athletics and cycling at the Paralympics sees her nominated, alongside triathlon champion Alistair Brownlee and Mo Farah, who this summer became the second man to successfully defend the long-distance Olympic double.

Dame Sarah Storey became the most decorated female Paralympian with three more cycling golds in Rio, and is nominated for the second time. The list is completed by fellow cyclists Jason Kenny, who took his gold medal tally to a record-equaling six in Rio, and his wife Laura Kenny, who won two Olympic and world titles during 2016.

The 62nd edition of the prestigious prize will take place on Sunday 19 December at the Genting Arena in Birmingham.