Everything you need to know about tonight’s Nottinghamshire Sport Awards

Video: Penny Briscoe MBE revealed the nominees in December

The Nottinghamshire Sport Awards are being hosted tonight at the Nottingham Conference Centre.

Now in its 25th year, the awards, hosted at 7pm, recognise the best of Nottinghamshire sport, from elite athletes to local clubs and community volunteers.

Last year’s winners included speed skater Elise Christie, Paralympic swimmer Ollie Hynd MBE and local club Notts Gymnastics Academy.

See who has been nominated for both the disabled and sports person of the year awards.

Elise Christie – Another hugely successful year for Elise, taking Gold medal in the first round of the World cup in Calgary and then breaking the world record of the 500m in the second round in Salt Lake City. Elise won the European Championships in Sochi and finished third at the world championships.

Becky Downie – Part of the GB team who won a historic Bronze medal in the world championships in Glasgow and a Silver medal in the European championships. Becky also saw individual success, winning the European championship on the bars and the British title on the beam. Becky was then part of the GB team in Rio who secured an unprecedented fifth place in the team final.

Helen Richardson-Walsh – Helen started her hockey career at West Bridgford hockey club and has played for her country for many years. Helen was a key part of the GB team that secured a stunning Gold medal in the Rio Olympics, scoring one of the crucial penalties in the deciding shoot-out against the Netherlands in the final. Helen now plays for HC Bloemendaal in the Netherlands.

Sam Walker – Sam played a key role as England took their first world championships medal since 1983 with a bronze in Kuala Lumpur. Sam reached the final of the national championships for the first time, losing out to the number one seed in the final, but he retained his mixed doubles title with partner Tin-Tin Ho. In his first Olympic games, Sam saved three match points to beat the world number 17, helping team GB reach the quarter-finals. Sam now is at a career high of 111 in the world.

Kate Hyde – Kate is captain of the England Women’s over 27’s Touch Rugby team, who won Gold at the European championships in Jersey beating Scotland 9-2 in the final. Kate also captains the Nottingham Hoods touch team, who had their most successful year ever in the national championships. Alongside this, Kate plays hockey for Boots first team and holds down a full time job as a detective for Nottinghamshire Police.

Grace Clough – In June 2016, Grace won the overall World Cup series in the Mix LTA4+  event, as well as this Grace competed at the Paralympic 20-16 in Rio to top off an unbeaten years winning Gold in the mixed Legs, Trunks and Arms cox 4 race. Adding to this Grace became World Record holder in the 2000m indoor rowing competition. Grace has also won domestic non-disabled events as well a force on the International Para-Rowing scene.

Sophie Hahn – In July 2016, Sophie competed at the IPC European Championships in Grosseto Italy, winning Gold in the T38 100m race, Sophie also won Gold in the T35-38 4x100m relay race, followed by winning the silver medal in the 200m Race. Continuing with winning theme, Sophie won gold in the 100m Race and Silver in the 4x100m T35-38 relay race at the Paralympics 2016 in Rio.

Ollie Hynd – At the Rio Paralympics this year, Ollie won a Gold Medal in the 400m freestyle S8 Category, breaking the World Record. He also won a Gold Medal in the SM8 200m Individual Medley, breaking the World Record. In the S8 Category 100m backstroke he won a Silver Medal and breaking the British Record. At IPC European Championships Ollie won three gold medals, in the S8 400m, Freestyle SM8 200m Medley and S8 100m Backstroke. Ollie also won silver S8 100m Freestyle and sliver in the 34 point 4×100 Freestyle Team Race.

Sophie Wells – At the Rio Paralympics Sophie won a Team Gold Medal, Individual Gold in the grade 4 event and won a silver medal in the Grade 4 freestyle event. In April 2016 Sophie competed at the International Para-dressage Deauville CPEDI competition where she won the Grade 4 team, Individual and freestyle classes on her own horse Valerius, riding a young horse call Fatal Attraction Sophie came second in the same classes. Sophie has been unbeaten this year on both horses both nationally and internationally achieving consistently high scores.

Emma Wiggs – In May 2016, Emma took part in the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships held at Duisburg, where she took gold in the Women’s K-1 200m KL2 race. Competing at the 2016 Rio Paralympic games, Emma took Gold in the Women’s K-1 200M kl2 Race. Emma has only been involved in Para-canoeing for three years after switching from sitting Volleyball, Emma is a real team player and she is a great ambassador for canoeing and Paralympic sports.

Richard Whitehead – In the 2016 IPC European Championships in Grosseto, Richard claimed gold medals in both of his events, the 100m T42 and the 200m T42 events. Then at the Rio Paralympics, he won the 100m T42 to secure the gold medal and won a silver in the 200m T42 after a dead-heat between him and Denmark’s Daniel Wagner.