Vote: In 2020 who was the British Sportsperson of the Year? Ronnie O'Sullivan, Marcus Rashford, more

Updated 28/12/2020 at 14:55 GMT

There were some extraordinary feats achieved by British athletes and sport stars in 2020, with a year disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic still delivering sporting excellence. Eurosport have drawn up a shortlist of our eight top contenders, so cast your vote from: Marcus Rashford, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Lucy Bronze, Judd Trump, Lizzie Deignan, Jonathan Rea, Tao Geoghegan Hart or Lewis Hamilton.

Vote: Who was the British Sportsperson of the Year?

Image credit: Eurosport

A year like no other saw the sporting calendar torn up, but despite the coronavirus chaos it has been 12 months to remember for some of Britain’s greatest contemporary sports stars.

Here at Eurosport we’ve picked our eight-person shortlist for our annual British Sportsperson of the Year award.

And after you’ve read all about the contenders it’s you’re turn, with a chance to vote at the end of this article.

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Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton has a strong claim to being the greatest Formula One driver of all-time after a remarkable 2020.

The 35-year-old secured his fourth straight world title with three races of the season to spare, drawing level with Michael Schumacher at the top of the all-time list with seven champions' crowns in his career to date.

Hamilton’s dominance of the season was extraordinary, and he breezed past Michael Schumacher’s previous all-time best of 91 Grand Prix wins to become what American audiences would call the most ‘winningest’ driver in the sport’s history.

However, it wasn’t just on the track that Hamilton underlined his status as a sporting great. The year started with him making a sizeable donation of half a million dollars in response to the Australian wildfires.

And following the death of George Floyd it was Hamilton who stood up as one of the most vocal presences in sport calling out racial inequalities in the world.

Speaking in admiration of Hamilton as the F1 Champion was named in Time Magazine’s list of their 100 most influential people in the world, Nascar driver Bubba Wallace summed up Hamilton’s impact in an eloquent conclusion, saying:

Lewis’ mental preparation, his aura, his ability to capitalize on every opportunity to use his platform to drive out racism are more than just a model for race-car drivers and other athletes. He’s an inspiration for everyone.

Hamilton: Black Lives Matter movement has made me a better driver

Tao Geoghegan Hart

Few would have picked Tao Geoghegan Hart as one of cycling’s stars of 2020, but that is what the Britain became with his extraordinary Giro d’Italia win in October.

Not even picked as Ineos Grenadiers’ team leader at the start of the race, the 25-year-old Londoner stepped up in serious style following Geraint Thomas’s withdrawal from the race.

While not perhaps containing a moment as singularly spectacular as Chris Froome’s Stage 19 win in 2018, Tao’s final week comeback was nevertheless one of the more impressive in recent cycling history.

In winning the Giro he became just the fifth British rider in history to win a Grand Tour, following in the footsteps of Chris Froome, Bradley Wiggins, Thomas and Simon Yates. The recency of those other riders’ successes shouldn’t disguise just how huge a feat this was by Geoghegan Hart.

Best of 2020 - Exclusive: Giro champion Tao Geoghegan Hart talks to Bradley Wiggins

In an open letter on The Bradley Wiggins Show podcast by Eurosport, Tao’s friend and inspiration Wiggins was gushing in his praise of the youngster.

“You’re about to win the Giro d’Italia mate, just f***ing think about that for a minute. The Giro d’Italia. You’ve surpassed me in so many ways. In some ways you’re a better version of everything that I wanted to be.

“You’re better looking! You conduct yourself as I wanted to. You’re modest, you don’t swear, you look good on the bike, you’re pleasant, and I’m so proud of you and you deserve everything that you get.

"My son’s 15 – he looks up to you. You’re now his hero. You’ve made it mate, you’re on top of the world. Enjoy every f***ing minute and hopefully one day you’ll still be as down to earth and as modest as you are. Remember your old mate Brad and buy him a beer!”

Jonathan Rea

Is there a more dominant figure in any sport than Jonathan Rea?

The Kawasaki driver came back after a crash in the opening round of the World Superbike championship to produce an astonishing run of form after lockdown.

Rea finished off the podium in just one of the 11 races immediately after the season’s restart to claim his sixth straight world title and underline his status as the division’s dominant force.

Rea celebrates sixth world title with ring collection

Speaking after sealing his title in Portugal, Rea said:

It's been an incredible journey this season to go through. I just want to thank all the organisers to get racing going again. In the middle of what everyone has had to experience in the world in this last year, sport always comes second, but we managed to race.

"I miss the fans, my family and friends and the travelling support from Northern Ireland. They can't be here now but it's all for them.

“We never gave up and it's been a hell of a journey. I'm so happy.”

Lizzie Deignan

Britain’s Lizzie Deignan topped the UCI World Rankings in 2020 after a stellar year.

The 31-year-old won two of the biggest races of the year – La Course and Liege-Basgogne-Liege – as well as a stage at the Giro Rosa and the GP de Plouay in a season to remember.

To make the success even more remarkable, Deignan’s special season came just two years after she gave birth to a baby daughter, Orla.

Deignan powers past Vos to win La Course

As Bradley Wiggins put it, that fact makes her one of the most impressive athletes in British sport.

“She’s an inspiration to every young girl not just in the UK but around the world.

"She’s world-class, she’s a mother and she’s an example of how far women’s cycling has come and what’s possible. You can go away and have a family and then come back to the sport and still earn good money.

“She’s doing wonders for the sport at the moment.”

Judd Trump

Judd Trump has dominated snooker in 2020. The 31-year-old has enjoyed a spectacular season, winning the Northern Ireland Open, English Open, Gibraltar Open, Players Championship and German Masters.

When he’s on form, there’s almost nobody who can stop him, as Trump himself admits.

"In my eyes, there are two people that could beat me at my best," Trump told Eurosport. "And that’s Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins. I’ve played them both, I’ve played John and played amazing before and still lost in deciders.

"I’ve played Ronnie and played well and lost, and against all the other players I normally win comfortably. Those two for me, at their best, are leagues above anyone else in the world."

Watch Judd Trump's stunning 147 maximum break in full

Trump's rival for the best player in the world (and this award), Ronnie O’Sullivan, only has praise for the Juddernaut.

I think Judd's head and shoulders above everybody else out there. He’s dominating.

Lucy Bronze

One of the best players in the world, Lucy Bronze enjoyed another extraordinary year as part of the treble-winning Lyon team.

Bronze picked up winner’s medals for the Champions League as well as the French domestic double, playing a significant role in all three title wins.

Lucy Bronze of Olympique Lyonnais walks past the trophy during the UEFA Women's Champions League Final between VfL Wolfsburg Women's and Olympique Lyonnais at Estadio Anoeta on August 30, 2020 in San Sebastian, Spain

Image credit: Getty Images

The 29-year-old returned to the WSL with Manchester City in September having won nine trophies in three seasons at Lyon and picking up a host of individual honours. And you won’t find a shortage of pundits, managers and players willing to sing her praises.

Bronze’s manager for England during 2020, Phil Neville, described her as “the best player in the world, without a shadow of a doubt.” While Gareth Taylor, the coach who brought her back to Manchester City this year, said:

"She is an unrivalled talent and her endless individual and team awards only scratch the surface of what a superb player she is.

Ronnie O’Sullivan

The Rocket ended a seven-year wait for a world title as he won the 2020 World Championship at the Crucible in some style.

O’Sullivan’s list of conquests en-route to the trophy takes some beating, as he saw off Ding Junhui, Mark Williams and Mark Selby before demolishing Kyren Wilson in the final.

It was the most consistent run of snooker that O’Sullivan has produced for years, and his performances ended any conversation that the 44-year-old may retire.

Best of 2020: Watch moment Ronnie O'Sullivan clinches sixth World Snooker Championship title

Eurosport’s snooker expert Desmond Kane summed up O’Sullivan’s season in eloquent fashion, writing:

“Put quite simply, the opposition are nowhere near being good enough to retire him. It is easy to gush when you study O’Sullivan’s majestic levels of form that have wrought over 1050 centuries, the most of any player in history. It is also difficult to suggest the year of the pandemic has provided him with some sort of snooker renaissance, because he has never really gone away.

“O’Sullivan has fallen in love with his time-served passion for potting all over again. At the venerable snooker age of 44, a juncture when most professionals are on the wane as former glories frustratingly fade into the framed fug of yesteryear and dewy-eyed folklore, the world champion seems to just be getting warmed up.”

Marcus Rashford

On the pitch Marcus Rashford came back from a stress fracture in his back to score some clutch goals for Manchester United, hitting the winner against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League before bagging a hat-trick in the same competition against RB Leipzig.

But Rashford’s year and ultimate legacy will be defined by his actions off the pitch. The 23-year-old’s remarkable campaign against child poverty saw the British government forced into policy u-turns on free-school meals, while Rashford’s campaign united groups, clubs and restaurants across the country under the banner of his Child Food Poverty Task Force.

Rashford’s decision to focus his attentions on one singular issue led to significant change across the year, and he shows no sign of letting up.

Rashford – ‘I speak out on things I believe in; I’m happy to have helped as many kids as we have’

He has received both an MBE and a doctorate from the University of Manchester in recent months to honour his efforts, but Rashford himself is not looking for plaudits.

“I’m by no means a politician but I had a voice and a platform that could be used to at least ask the questions,” he said.

“If I didn’t put myself out there and say, ‘This is not OK and it needs to change,’ I would have failed my 10-year-old self.”

We think you’ll agree that it’s an impressive shortlist.

And now it’s your turn.

Cast your vote for Eurosport’s British Sportsperson of the Year award...