Miley, Paul and Bankier on prize shortlist

SWIMMER Hannah Miley, badminton player Imogen Bankier and cyclist John Paul are all in the running for the 2011 Lonsdale Trophy, celebrating Scotland’s sportsperson of the year.

Commonwealth Games Scotland yesterday announced the shortlist of three for the trophy, which was first introduced at the Commonwealth Sports Awards in 2003.

Miley, the 2010 Lonsdale Trophy winner, has been nominated following another impressive year, which included a silver medal at the world championships in Shanghai. Bankier won a mixed-doubles silver medal at the 2011 world championships with partner Chris Adcock, while Paul topped off a decent year by winning the world junior sprint title in August to follow up wins at the British and European championships.

Announcing the nominees, Commonwealth Games Scotland chairman Michael Cavanagh said: “2011 has been another hugely successful year for Scottish athletes, and the quality of the nominations we have for the Lonsdale Trophy is testament to that. It certainly wasn’t easy selecting the shortlist, but we have chosen three athletes who have truly excelled on the world stage over the past 12 months.

“We’ll now all look forward to the end of the month, when the winner will be announced at our annual celebration of Scottish sport; the Commonwealth Games Dinner.”

Multiple Olympic gold medallist Chris Hoy has dominated the Lonsdale Trophy over the past eight years for his achievements in cycling, while swimmer Gregor Tait won the award in 2006 and rower Katherine Grainger was crowned Scotland’s sportsperson of the year in 2009.

The winner of the 2011 award will be announced at the annual Commonwealth Games Dinner, to be held in partnership with Glasgow 2014 at the Radisson Blu hotel in Glasgow on 29 October.