BBC's Sports Personality of the Year awards take place on Tuesday night in what is the traditional end to the sporting achievements calendar.

Sports stars from across the UK will be recognised for their successes over the course of 2024, while other individuals will be acknowledged for the roles they play in the wider sporting community.

The 2024 edition will also mark the 25th anniversary of the Helen Rollason Award, which recognises outstanding achievement in the face of adversity.

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The award was set up in Rollason's name back in 1999. Rollason was a BBC journalist who sadly passed away aged 43 after being diagnosed with colon cancer. She became the first female presenter of BBC's Grandstand and also fronted coverage from the Olympics, Paralympics, Wimbledon and Commonwealth Games.

Despite her diagnosis, she continued to front sports bulletins and helped raise more £5million for a cancer wing at North Middlesex Hospital, where she had received treatment, which was subsequently named in her honour.

"I stay working because I love it, and because I feel best on the days when I'm busy," she said during her treatment. "I'd far rather work than hang around the house – even though there are days when I can hardly get out of bed."

She died on August 9, 1999, after a two-year battle with the disease which had spread to her liver and lungs. Shortly before her passing she was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for her services to broadcasting and charity.

"I cried when I received the news," she said of her MBE. "I don't feel I deserve it but I'm very thrilled that so many women are coming through in sport broadcasting now."

Rollason has become the poster girl for the female presenters we have today; Gabby Logan, who will be presenting tonight’s awards, paid tribute to Rollason stating she was “a great example to everyone” and described her as “an icon for young girls who want to go into that field because she showed what could be done”.

On the special anniversary of the award, Nikki Rollason, Helen’s daughter, shared her favourite childhood memories of her mother.

"My mum was so humble, I think she would be really shocked that it's still going 25 years later, but we're really proud of that legacy," said Nikki to the BBC, who was 16 when her mother died.

"Mum was such a trailblazer and for me the award really encapsulates that, but also I love the fact that it also encapsulates her spirit and her attitude - the fact she was like: 'Yes, something's happened, but we need to keep going, and what can I do to make things better?'

"It's really lovely to feel like her name is still out there. Obviously as the years go on, it's a bit different, but she's still remembered. It means a lot to us."

Previous winners of the award include Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Geoff Thomas, Bradley Lowery, Doddie Weir and Rob Burrow, among others. Last year's recipient was Fatima Whitbread.

The fact three females are presenting the awards tonight, with Clare Balding and Alex Scott accompanying Logan on the stage, would mean a lot to Rollason, according to her daughter.

"When I see that, and when I see Olympic coverage, it just really makes me think of her and where she'd be," Nikki added.

"One of the things that I've been talking about recently is the audacity of my mum to just be like, 'Hi, I'm a woman, I'd like to be a presenter' in that day and age. It just blows my mind that she was just like: 'Yeah, I'm going to do this.'

"One of the reasons I'm really pleased about Sport Personality still continuing with mum's award is that I want my three-and-a-half-year-old daughter to grow up knowing who her grandmother was and her legacy.

"I want to pass that down to her to make her aware of this amazing woman who unfortunately is not with us any more, but she's got this amazing part of her history and I want her to grow up with that."