Olympic swimmer Wiffen ‘surprised’ to win BBC NI Sports Personality of the Year

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen said he was “surprised” to win BBC Northern Ireland’s Sports Personality of the Year.

Wiffen won Olympic gold in the pool in the 800m freestyle and bronze in the 1500m freestyle at the Paris Games in the summer.

The Olympic medals added to two golds he won earlier in the year at the World Championships in Doha.

The 23-year old from Magheralin in Co Armagh became the first athlete from Northern Ireland to win an individual Olympic gold medal for more than 30 years.

The Team Ireland swimmer was known for his abilities in the pool, as well as his confidence and humour in media interviews.

After being awarded the BBC NI Sports Personality trophy, Wiffen said: “It’s amazing. Sports Personality of the Year is pretty cool, it’s one of the biggest awards in sport. I didn’t even know, I’m quite surprised.

“It’s going to be a great Christmas in our house and I’ll add it to the trophy cabinet.”

He added: “It’s been such a magical year. Christmas time, it’s even better to celebrate it with family. We all worked towards this goal of winning the Olympics and we did it. Now it’s time to celebrate.”

BBC Sport NI said it had been a “fantastic year” for the region’s sporting stars, with executive editor Neil Brittain saying picking a winner was a “real challenge”.

Northern Ireland scooped four gold medals, a silver and two bronzes at the Paris Olympics, the most achieved for NI in a Games and the first golds since 1988.

Mr Brittain said: “It was our best ever Olympics with six athletes from Northern Ireland bringing home medals. Many of our top athletes had a remarkable 2024, achieving success that would have won this award in any other year.

“However, what Daniel did in the pool in Paris was absolutely incredible. He told us he would win and he backed that confidence up with a gold-medal performance.”