Voting is now open for the BBC Sports Personality World Sport Star of the Year 2025 award.
The shortlist comprises six outstanding athletes who are vying for the prestigious accolade, which will be presented live on BBC One on Thursday, December 18.
In 2024, the World Sport Star award was claimed by Swedish pole vault sensation Armand Duplantis.
Cast your vote below for your standout performer and discover more about each of the nominees.
Sorry, this vote cannot be loaded. In order to vote you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Sport: Football Country: Spain
Spanish midfielder Caldentey enjoyed a remarkable debut season in English football, playing a pivotal role in Arsenal’s triumphant Champions League campaign, where they defeated her former club Barcelona in the final.
Caldentey’s stellar performances saw her score 19 goals in 41 appearances for the Gunners during her inaugural season, earning her the Professional Footballers’ Association women’s player of the year and the Women’s Super League player of the year awards.
She also found the net in the Women’s Euro 2025 final, although Spain narrowly lost to England on penalties.
The 29-year-old finished as runner-up in the Ballon d’Or award, losing out to compatriot Aitana Bonmati, and secured a place in Uefa’s Champions League team of the year.
The making of Spain and Arsenal’s humble magician
Arsenal’s Caldentey wins WSL player of year award
Sport: Boxing Country: United States
Terence Crawford solidified his legacy as one of boxing’s all-time greats by becoming the first male fighter to achieve undisputed champion status across three weight divisions in the four-belt era.
The 38-year-old moved up two weight classes to challenge Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez at super-middleweight, securing a unanimous decision victory in front of a partisan crowd in Las Vegas.
By claiming the WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO and The Ring belts, the American extended his unblemished professional record to 42 wins, with the last 20 being world title fights.
However, Crawford was stripped of the WBC belt earlier in December, with president Mauricio Sulaiman citing unpaid sanctioning fees.
‘Crawford conquers Canelo to become the face of boxing’
History-maker Crawford stuns Canelo in Vegas
Sport: Athletics Country: Sweden
In 2025, Sweden’s Armand Duplantis once again dominated the pole vault, securing his third World Championship gold medal.
He also established another world record of 6.30m – his fourth of the year – and the 14th of his already illustrious career.
He also retained his indoor world title, taking his tally to eight successive golds in major global competitions, and won all 16 of his events to become the first male pole vaulter in modern history to remain undefeated for two consecutive years.
In November, the 26-year-old was named men’s world athlete of the year for a third time.
Duplantis gets 14th world record & third world title
The making of Mondo: How Duplantis is reaching new heights
Sport: Athletics Country: United States
American track and field star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the greatest female 400m hurdler of all time, transitioned to the 400m flat at this year’s World Athletics Championships, achieving the same success and becoming the first athlete to win career world titles in both disciplines.
Her time of 47.78 seconds was the second fastest in history, coming close to breaking a world record that has stood since 1985.
The 26-year-old remains undefeated across both distances for the past two years.
She added another gold in the 4x400m relay in Tokyo and was named the women’s world athlete of the year.
McLaughlin-Levrone wins 400m gold with second fastest time in history
Duplantis & McLaughlin-Levrone named world athletes of year
Sport: Baseball Country: Japan
As the LA Dodgers marched towards retaining their World Series title, Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani produced one of the most remarkable individual performances in Major League Baseball history.
The rare ‘two-way’ player, excelling as both a pitcher and a hitter, smashed three home runs and struck out 10 batters against the Milwaukee Brewers.
That feat made him the first pitcher since 1942 to hit three home runs in the same game.
The 31-year-old was named as one of baseball’s Most Valuable Players for the third straight year, and the fourth time overall, moving him into second on the all-time list.
Ohtani wins fourth Major League MVP award
Ohtani rewrites history to send Dodgers to World Series
Sport: Football Country: Egypt
Mohamed Salah, the ‘Egyptian King’, scored 29 Premier League goals and broke a host of records as he led Liverpool to a record-equalling 20th top-flight title in the 2024-25 season.
He became the first player to win the Golden Boot, the Playmaker award for most assists and the Premier League player of the season award in the same campaign. He was also named as the PFA men’s player of the year for a record third time and collected a third Football Writers’ footballer of the year award.
The 33-year-old became the highest-scoring overseas player in Premier League history, surpassing Sergio Aguero’s mark of 184.
Salah has scored five goals in 18 appearances for Liverpool so far this season, and on Saturday expressed feeling “thrown under the bus” by the club, suggesting a breakdown in his relationship with head coach Arne Slot.
Mohamed Salah – Egyptian king
‘The hunger makes me want more’ – Salah wins third PFA award