Daniel Wiffen crowned 2024 BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year

Wiffen won Olympic gold in the pool in the 800m freestyle and bronze in the 1,500m freestyle at the Paris Games in the summer.

He added the Olympic medals to the two golds he secured earlier in the year at the World Championships in Doha.

The 23-year old from Co Armagh became the first athlete from Northern Ireland to win an individual Olympic Gold medal in 36 years in his memorable 800m finish in Paris, roared on by family, friends and fans at the La Defense Arena.

The Team Ireland swimmer also set an Olympic record to take the gold in the final, edging out Bobby Finke of the USA and received a hero’s welcome upon his return back to Dublin and to Magheralin.

On winning the award, Daniel said: "It's amazing. Sports Personality of the Year is pretty cool, it's one of the biggest awards in sport. I didn't even know, I'm quite surprised. It's going to be a great Christmas in our house and I'll add it to the trophy cabinet."

Reflecting on 2024, he added: "It's been such a magical year. Christmas time, it's even better to celebrate it with family. We all worked towards this goal of winning the Olympics and we did it. Now it's time to celebrate."

The judging panel for the BBC Northern Ireland award was: Grace Davitt, former Ireland and Ulster Rugby player, former All-Ireland Senior Football Championship winner Oisín McConville; four-time paralympic champion Michael McKillop; Northern Ireland international Julie Nelson, former Ireland hockey captain Katie Mullan; Neil Brittain, Executive Editor BBC Sport NI and BBC Sport NI football commentator Thomas Kane.

Congratulating Daniel, Neil Brittain: “It has been a fantastic year for our sporting stars – making it a real challenge for the judges to select a winner.

"It was our best ever Olympics with six athletes from Northern Ireland bringing home medals. Many of our top athletes had a remarkable 2024, achieving success that would have won this award in any other year.

"However, what Daniel did in the pool in Paris was absolutely incredible. He told us he would win and he backed that confidence up with a gold-medal performance.”