Lioness Beth Mead and her partner Vivianne Miedema on…

Lioness Beth Mead and her partner Vivianne Miedema on crutches at BBC Sports Personality of the Year after suffering same footballing injury

Arsenal footballers Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema beamed big smiles on the red carpet at the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year 2022 despite their recent injury disappointment. Lioness Beth, who won the Golden Boot for leading scorer and was named player of the tournament during England’s Euro 2022 victory in the summer, ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament last month in Arsenal’s Women’s Super League match against Manchester United.

Then last week her partner and team-mate Vivianne became sidelined with a ruptured ACL and was taken off on a stretcher during Arsenal's 1-0 defeat at home to Lyon. She was followed down the tunnel by Beth after receiving treatment on the pitch.

Sharing a photo of the pair together on her Instagram with ther fingers intwined Beth wrote: "STRONGER TOGETHER! So I was given sympathy for 3 weeks and now she has to go get some of her own but we got this, YOU got this."

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Beth is one of six shortlisted nominees for the most prestigious event in the world of sport. She looked incredible at the awards held at MediaCity, Salford, in a silk green blazer and a matching trousers.

The 27-year-old forward, who was named player of the tournament during England’s Euro 2022 victory in the summer and won the Golden Boot for leading scorer, wore a black bandeau top underneath that showed off her toned midriff. She added a pair of pristine white trainers as a casual touch to the outfit.

The footballers both attended on crutches (Getty Images)

She posed alongside her girlfriend, who also rocked a similar look as the flashbulbs greeted the arrivals. Vivianne, 26, chose a suit in cream with a cropped top.

Also gracing the red carpet at the awards, hosted by Gabby Logan, Gary Lineker, Clare Balding and Alex Scott, was fellow Lioness Jill Scott. Queen of the Jungle Jill looked a far cry from her stint in the I'm a Celebrity jungle which ended in victory for the 35-year-old earlier this month. The reality show winner looked sensational in an electric blue jumpsuit.

Hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly told her that the final of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! racked up 12 million votes, and the majoriy went to Jill, who runs BoxxtoBoxx coffee shop in Wythenshawe with her fiancee Shelly Unitt. After receiving the news the down-to-earth footballing star joked: "I just can't believe it. Honestly, I think I'm going to owe my grandma a lot of money for the 12 million votes she's done."

Paralympian swimming champ Ellie Simmonds, who recently won hearts on Strictly Come Dancing, dazzled in green velvet at the ceremony. She presented 18-year-old gymnast Jessica Gadirova with the 2022 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award.

Last month The Strictly dancefloor was awash with tears as Ellie and pro dance partner Nikita Kuzmin were voted off the show. Fans said they were 'sobbing' and 'broken' as Ellie was eliminated after a shock dance-off with Molly Rainford and Carlos Gu.

Gold medalist Ellie became the sixth contestant to leave the BBC dance contest after they reprised their charleston to Too Darn Hot from Kiss Me Kate. All four judges Anton Du Beke, Craig Revel-Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Shirley Ballas opted to save Molly.

Ellie Simmonds poses on the red carpet (PA)

Fans were crying as a tearful Nikita was asked if he had words for his dance partner and he gave an emotional speech. He told her: "I love you Els. I just want to tell you every single person in this room loves you.

"That is just to say how much of a beautiful human you are. You spend time to go to each person inside this room. You care about everybody. You are just such a wonderful human and I am so glad I’ve had the chance to dance with you.”

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