Beth mead was in tears while collecting the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award and ditching her crutches on stage.
It comes after a phenomenal year for the Arsenal forward, who won the Golden Boot and Player of the Tournament at the Women’s Euros in the summer. England won the contest in July after beating Germany 2-1 in the final.
Mead becomes the first female footballer to win the award as England won their first major international title in 66 years. She scored six goals in total at the Euros and was the overwhelming favourite to land the SPOTY award.
The 27 year old has since injured her ACL and has been ruled out for the season at Arsenal but she briefly ditched the crutches as she took to the stage to collect her award. She wiped away tears as she gave an emotional speech, saying: “I’m speechless for once.”
“Obviously I’m incredibly honoured to win this award. I’ll keep saying it, it’s cliche, but I wouldn’t have done it without them girls over there and the team that have backed me.”
“Yes, I’ve got this accolade, I did my job and I scored a few goals, but I wouldn’t have done it without them and I certainly wouldn’t have done it without my dad, my mum and all my family.”
Ben Stokes finished second after an incredible year with the England cricket team, helping them win the T20 World Cup with a brilliant innings, as well as starting off life in sparkling form as Test captain.
Scottish curler Eve Muirhead came third after fulfilling a lifelong dream by winning gold at the Winter Olympics in February. She guided her team to success in stunning fashion after beating Japan 10-3 in Beijing.
But there was widespread success for the Lionesses at the award ceremony held in Salford after they also won the Team of the Year award. Sarina Wiegman also won Coach of the Year after leading England to success at the Euros.
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