American swimmer Katie Ledecky has been nominated for a BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year Award. She’s one of 6 athletes who have been nominated by the UK’s largest news organization for the annual honor. She joins British swimmer Adam Peaty on the shortlists announced yesterday for an award from the BBC – Peaty was nominated for the domestic equivalent BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
6 Nominees for Overseas Sports Personality of the Year
- Tom Brady, United States, American Football
- Roger Federer, Switzerland, Tennis
- Katie Ledecky, United States, Swimming
- Tatyana McFadden, United States, Para-athletics
- Sally Pearson, Australia, Athletics (Track & Field)
- Michael van Gerwen, Netherlands, Darts
While Ledecky didn’t swim any best times in long course meters in 2017, she was still the dominant female swimmer of the 2017 World Aquatics Championships where she won gold medals in the 400, 800, and 1500 freestyles individually (all of which are now ‘Olympic distances,’) as well as relay golds as a member of the 400 and 800 free relays. She combined that with a silver medal in the 200 free, where she lost to the World Record holder Federica Pellegrini of Italy. That silver medal result marked her-career loss across her major annual long course meets (World Championships, Olympics, Pan Pac Championships).
Ledecky also won all 3 of her events at her first NCAA Championship meet (the 500 and 1650 frees alone, the 200 free in a tie with Mallory Comerford)
The winner will be announced by the BBC ahead of its awards show on December 17th.
