This is O’Sullivan’s first nomination, but it’s true that success is not a new thing for the 44 – year – old, who is considered by many to be the best player in snooker. The 18-8 victory over Kiran Wilson in the Crucible in August made her the world champion for the sixth time. Record holder Stephen Hendry is on par with Steve Davis and Ray Riden. He surpassed Hendry by 37 runs in the all-time list of all-time event victories, and holds a record 20 triple titles.

Rocket, the oldest world champion since Ridord at the age of 45 in 1978, won the trophy for the first time in 2001, with the most wins in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2013. The 17-year-old won the 1993 UK Championship when he claimed his maiden ranking title. O’Sullivan was the first snooker player to be nominated since Hendrik in 1990 – only Davis in 1988 to win the award.

This nomination – the first since horse racing after Tony McCain in 2013 – is the latest milestone in Jockey Doyle’s incredible year. In August, the 24-year-old became the first woman to win five races on the same card in the UK, breaking her own record for the most wins in a calendar year by 899-1 in Windsor when she reached 117 in October. In the same month, Doyle finished fourth in this year’s competition for the Flat Jockeys Championship, winning twice in Ascot on Champions Day, including his first victory at the Group One level, at Glenn Sheal.

Royal Ascot won this year with the Scarlet Dragon in June. Doyle Herfordshire, recently named Woman of the Year by the Sunday Times Sport, went through a pony racing circuit, where she met her boyfriend Tom Marquand, now a prominent jockey.

Henderson’s growth from Liverpool Misfit to the Champions League and Premier League winning captain has been shortlisted. When he turned down a move to Fulham in 2012 to fight for his position at Anfield, there would have been a great deal of opposition as a result. For eight years, Henderson himself has been part of the Jurgen Klopp. The captain, who has been under the influence of the 30-year-old since last season in 2015, makes it clear that he brought a period of injury to the team. It would have been appropriate for Liverpool to have lifted the trophy as they beat Tottenham to win the Champions League in Madrid in 2019.

Covid-19 Henderson made the best impact from the pitch in football’s response to the Pandemic. Born in Sunderland, Henderson joined the Warside Club at the age of eight, making his debut for the 2008 team.

Like Hamilton, Broad is another man with experience in British sports. The pace player became the second Englishman after longtime teammate Jimmy Anderson to take his 500th Test wicket in the third match against the West Indies this summer. The 34-year-old, who was ruled out of the first game, came back with a point and made it better. He took 10 wickets and scored 62 runs in the third Test and took 16 wickets in two matches. He took 13 wickets in three matches in the subsequent series against Pakistan.

Broad has been a key member of the England Test team since making his debut in 2007. He has played in 143 matches, 121 ODIs and 56 Twenty20 matches. Broad, the son of former England batsman Chris, was part of four teams that won the Ashes and won the World T20 in 2010, while playing county cricket for Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

Hamilton has won the award once before – in 2014 – and is a four-time runner-up. The 35-year-old from Stevenage has already won his seventh Formula One World Championship, a record set by Michael Schumacher. Meanwhile, he now holds the best record for race victories, pole positions and podium finishes, and is one of the most successful athletes in Britain by any measure.

Hamilton is an advertising supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement and advocate for equality within Formula One. Hamilton has been setting records since reaching the top table in motorsport in 2007, winning his first world title a year later. The move from McLaren to Mercedes was the catalyst for an era of total dominance, winning six titles in seven years, the only exception being when teammate Nico Rosberg ousted him in 2016.

Most of the attention tonight will inevitably fall on Tyson Fury.

The boxer has written a legal letter to the BBC asking it to withdraw his nomination, which the broadcaster has refused to do.

Fury, who was shortlisted after defeating American Dionte Wilder in February to become the WBC World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, says the BBC is robbing him of his rights by putting him on the list against his will.

“I don’t want an award from someone who says I’m a sports personality,” he told the Jonathan Rose Show.

“I know what I am and who I am, I know what I have achieved, I know what I have come back for.

“I do not need a Glass Trophy. I am a People’s Champion. I do not need this Glamorous Trophy to tell you who I am and what I did.”

It will be interesting to see if Fury fans support their candidate without voting, or if Fury’s request is reversed.

The 32-year-old was a nominee in 2015 for being removed from the shortlist following comments he made about women and homosexuality.

At the awards he apologized: “If I have said anything before that has hurt anyone, I apologize to anyone who has been injured.”

Welcome to the Evening Standard live coverage of the Good Evening, BBC Sports Personality of the Year gala.

GMT will start at 8 p.m. Stay tuned with us for build-up, functionality and feedback.