In response to the fact that in the 60-year history of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, only 13 winners have been female, Glamour Magazine Britain seeks to crown its own version of the prestigious award. 14 female stand-outs of British sport are nominated for Glamour Magazine Britain’s Female-Only Sports Personality of the Year award, including successful swimmer, Siobhan-Marie O’Connor.
At just 19, O’Connor has already made a name for herself on the international swimming stage, winning 6 medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. O’Connor followed that performance up with three silvers at the 2014 Short Course World Championships in Doha. Then, just this past summer in Kazan, O’Connor achieved a bronze medal finish in the women’s 200m IM event, while also scoring a world record as part of Great Britain’s mixed 4×100 medley relay squad.
Lesser known to those outside the sport, however, is that O’Connor suffers from ulcerative colitis, a form of inflammatory bowel disease, which has hampered the swimmer’s performance in the past. According to O’Connor, “there’s times where it’s pretty bad and times where it’s pretty good. I’ve not got the best immune system and everyone has their things to deal with. That’s mind and I do struggle when I get ill as it’s so full on.”
However, with a combination of medication, nutrition and moral support, O’Connor has found a way to thrive in the midst of her chronic illness, so much so that she was named to the 2016 British Performance Squad, indicating the financial support her nation invests behind her in her quest for Rio gold.
To cast your vote for Siobhan-Marie O’Connor for Glamour Britain’s Female-Only Sports Personality of the Year, tweet “I’m voting for #SiobhanGLAMOURSPOTY.