Michelle Agyemang wins Young Sports Personality of the Year, and here come the racist trolls

Lioness forward player Michelle Agyemang took the title of BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year 2025 at last night’s ceremony, 18 December. Just three months after her first senior international game, the phenomenal 19-year-old football talent helped England win the Euros in Switzerland earlier this year.

Her decisive contributions led to her taking the title of young player of the tournament. She also won the Golden Girl trophy, recognising her as the best young player in Europe. Beyond that, she’s a nominee for the Kopa Trophy, which would crown her as the world’s best under-21 player.

However, those awesome achievements haven’t stopped the usual bunch of racist commentators on Twitter griping at a Black woman’s victory. In particular, a number have called foul at the fact that the BBC picked Agyemang over 18-year-old Luke Littler.

Sound the dogwhistles

Luke Littler – a white man – is without doubt one of the best darts players in the world. Possibly the best in the world actually, given that he’s ranked as the Professional Darts Corporation’s world champion. His extraordinary abilities aren’t in dispute, and are in fact very well recognised.

They’re so well-recognised, in fact, that he won Young Sports Personality of the Year already. You don’t even need to look far back – he won the title just last year. 

As usual, many of the commentators didn’t say outright that Agyemang shouldn’t have won because she’s Black – though we’re sure many of them thought it loudly. That’s not how this works.

No – as usual, it was couched in the sentiment that Agyemang won because she’s Black. ‘The BBC chose her as a diversity tick-box’. ‘Luke Littler was robbed, and we all know why’. Well, we all know what you mean by that – you’re just too much of a coward to say it.

Michelle Agyemang is Black excellence in action

People in this country don’t like Black excellence. Or rather, support for Black talent extends to a point, and no further. We support phenomenal Black players when they lead us to victory, and maybe cheering them on gives us a comforting feeling. Our support proves we’re not racists, and are therefore good people.

But God forbid a Black woman be named the best over a white man. That certain stripe of commentator would prefer the white guy win even if he won just last year too. (And don’t even get them started on the ‘woman’ bit.)

They can’t even conceptualise, let alone acknowledge, that a Black woman might win on her own damn merits, not as some exercise in diversity. Every Black win is felt as a white loss, because white supremacy dictates that white people are just better.

Of course, I doubt severely that most of the Twitter commentators would call themselves white supremacists. But what else could you call a core, abiding belief that the people who just happen to be better (supreme, if you will) just keep happening to be white?

 ‘I am so thankful’

Regarding her incredible victory, Agyemang said:

Wow. Thank you so much. I am so grateful. To all my team-mates, coaches, I am so grateful.

To my family, who have supported me all this year and throughout my career – even if it hasn’t been that long – I love you.

A big thank you to God for this opportunity. I am so thankful.

Unfortunately, Agyemang will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season due to a rupture in her anterior cruciate ligament sustained in October.

I would like to say congratulations on the win from us at the Canary, and wish her a speedy recovery. But more than that, I hope she never saw the shitheads on Twitter, or this article talking about them.

It’s a fucking shame that we don’t get to admire a Black woman’s victory without having to wade through a sea of white vitriol.

Here’s to Michelle Agyemang, the Young Sports Personality of the Year.