Ben Pritchard named BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year 2025

Paralympic rowing champion Ben Pritchard has been named BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year 2025, capping an extraordinary season in which the Swansea athlete secured every major title in his event.

The 33-year-old from Mumbles enjoyed a career-defining year, completing a rare treble by winning European and world gold medals, adding to the Paralympic title he claimed in Paris in 2024.

Pritchard, who comes from a sporting family, was a talented sailor in his youth and represented both Wales and Great Britain in various boat classes after joining Mumbles Yacht Club.

He later switched his focus to cycling and triathlon, inspired by a teacher who recognised his aptitude for endurance sport.

But in 2016, a life-changing cycling crash left him paralysed from the ribcage down. During recovery at the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, he was introduced to adaptive sport – and to rowing, initially as part of rehabilitation and later as a serious competitive pursuit.

His rise in para-rowing was rapid. Pritchard made his Great Britain debut in the PR1 men’s single sculls at the 2019 World Championships and has since become one of the leading figures in the sport. His Paralympic gold in Paris was followed by victories at the 2025 European Championships in Plovdiv and the World Championships in Shanghai, cementing his dominance.

After winning the award, Pritchard said: “I’m just looking at some of the legends who have come before me. This means everything to me – to be recognised among sporting heroes and icons my family have talked about for generations is amazing.

“It’s recognition for all the hard work that’s gone in over the years. Nine years ago I was lying in a hospital bed, just aiming to get to a Paralympics and aiming to live my life again. And here I am, winning the biggest award in Welsh sport. It’s amazing.”

Pritchard has already turned his attention to the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games, where he hopes to defend his title and pursue a second gold medal.

Judging panel

He was selected for the BBC Cymru Wales accolade by an expert judging panel chaired by Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, the Paralympic great and Sport Wales chair. The panel also included former Wales international Nia Jones, Sport Wales’ Owen Lewis, Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Professor Katie Thirlaway and former BBC Wales football correspondent Rob Phillips.

Baroness Grey-Thompson said choosing the winner had been “a really tough decision”, adding: “Ben has had a phenomenal year after winning in Paris, backing that up with a world record at the Europeans. It’s a big step up from bronze in 2022 at the Europeans and worlds.”

Jockey Sean Bowen finished a close second in the panel’s deliberations after becoming only the third Welshman to claim the Champion Jockey title, and the first since 1954.

Other highly commended athletes included sprinter Jeremiah Azu, cyclists Anna Morris and Zoe Backstedt, para-athletes Aled Sion Davies and Sabrina Fortune, snooker player Mark Williams, table-tennis star Anna Hursey, rally driver Elfyn Evans, boxer Lauren Price and swimmer Matt Richards.