Laura and Jason Kenny nominated for 2016 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award
Dame Sarah Storey and Kadeena Cox also among cyclists on 16-strong shortlist
by George Scott
georgetscott
Laura Kenny (née Trott) and Jason Kenny are among four cyclists nominated for the 2016 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award – but there was no place for three-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome on the shortlist.
The track cycling couple, who won five gold medals between them at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, are the first married couple to be nominated for the award, having wed in September.
The Kennys are joined on the 16-strong shortlist by Dame Sarah Storey, who become Britain's most successful female Paralympian by taking her gold medal tally to 14 in Rio.
Laura and Jason Kenny won five gold medals between them at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Pic: Simon Wilkinson/SWPix.com)
Fellow Paralympian Kadeena Cox is also nominated, having won gold medals both cycling and athletics in Rio, becoming the first British Paralympian to win golds in multiple sports at the same Games since Isabel Barr in 1984.
– Interview: 14 Paralympic gold medals, but Dame Sarah Storey's not done yet –
However, Froome, who claimed his third Tour title in July before winning time trial bronze in Rio, couldn't force his way onto a shortlist dominated by Olympic champions.
Sir Bradley Wiggins, who won the award after his Tour de France and London 2012 time trial double, was also among the cyclists to miss out despite collecting an eighth Olympic medal (and fifth gold) in Rio.
– Is Sir Bradley Wiggins Britain's greatest ever cyclist? –
Andy Murray, who ended the 2016 tennis season as world number one after a campaign which included victory at Wimbledon and the Olympic Games, is the bookies favourite for the award.
Dame Sarah Storey became Great Britain's greatest ever female Paralympian at Rio 2016 (Pic: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
Alistair Brownlee is second-favourite, having won his second Olympic triathlon title in Rio, before capturing the heart of the nation by giving up his own chance of winning the final race of the 2016 World Triathlon Series in Cozumel, Mexico, to help his brother Jonny, who had collapsed, over the line.
The shortlist also includes Nicola Adams (boxing), Gareth Bale (football), Sophie Christiansen (equestrian), Mo Farah (athletics), Adam Peaty (swimming), Kate Richardson-Walsh (hockey), Nick Skelton (equestrian), Jamie Vardy (football), Max Whitlock (gymnastics) and Danny Willett (golf).
Murray won the award in 2015, while three cyclists have scooped the prize in the last ten years, with Sir Chris Hoy leading the charge in 2008, before Mark Cavendish picked up the 2011 gong and Wiggins followed suit a year later.
The winner of the 2016 award will be decided by a public vote during the televised ceremony on Sunday December 18.
BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2016 shortlist
Nicola Adams (boxing)
Gareth Bale (football)
Alastair Brownlee (triathlon)
Sophie Christiansen (equestrian)
Kadeena Cox (athletics/cycling)
Mo Farah (athletics)
Jason Kenny (cycling)
Laura Kenny (cycling)
Andy Murray (tennis)
Adam Peaty (swimming)
Kate Richardson-Walsh (hockey)
Nick Skelton (equestrian)
Dame Sarah Storey (cycling)
Jamie Vardy (football)
Max Whitlock (gymnastics)
Danny Willett (golf).
BBC Sports Personality Of The Year
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