Daniel Wiffen: Olympic champion named BBC Northern Ireland’s Sports Personality of the Year

Wiffen joins an illustrious list of BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year winners, including Rory McIlroy, Carl Frampton, Rhys McClenaghan and 2023 recipient Ciara Mageean.

“The list goes on of how many great people have won this award. The name Rory McIlroy stands out to me as a big golf fan,” he added.

“But it’s just very special, 2024 was my year. I’m stuck for words, it’s quite a surprise.”

When asked to reflect on where he was 12 month ago, Wiffen said: “To be honest, you know you’re going to win the Olympics from the Christmas before.

“I knew from that Christmas that I was going to win. I guess now there’s only a couple more Christmases before we go to LA [for the 2028 Games] and have that dream again.”

BBC Sport NI executive editor Neil Brittain said: “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.”

The judging panel for the award was All-Ireland Senior Football Championship winner Oisin McConville, four-time Paralympic champion Michael McKillop, Ireland hockey Olympian Katie Mullan, Northern Ireland women’s record cap holder Julie Nelson, Six Nations Grand Slam winner Grace Davitt, BBC Sport NI executive editor Neil Brittain and BBC Sport NI football commentator Thomas Kane.