Six men and five women - Paralympic skier Kelly Gallagher and her guide Charlotte Evans appear as a team - are nominated for the prestigious award.
The shortlist was decided by a panel of 12 experts, including BBC Sport director Barbara Slater and former Sports Personality of the Year nominees Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Rebecca Adlington and Denise Lewis.
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Lewis Hamilton won his second drivers' World Championship last night
The winner will be announced during the live awards show on 14 December.
Gymnast Max Whitlock, swimmer Adam Peaty and dressage competitor Charlotte Dujardin have also made the shortlist.
Here is the full list in some of their most recent action-packed pictures.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland tees off at the 16th hole during the first day of The DP World Tour Championship, held at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on 20 November. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Gareth Bale(02 of10)
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Real Madrid's Gareth Bale (left), in action with Rayo's Tito, celebrates his goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Rayo Vallecano and Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain on 8 November. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Max Whitlock(03 of10)
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Max Whitlock of Britain competes in the vault during the men's qualifying of the Artistic Gymnastics World Championship in Nanning, capital of southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on 3 October. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Lewis Hamilton (04 of10)
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Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain celebrates winning Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Pix at the Yas Marina racetrack in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on 23 November. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Adam Peaty(05 of10)
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Adam Peaty celebrates setting a new world record as he wins his men's 50m breaststroke semifinal at the LEN Swimming European Championships in Berlin, Germany, on 22 August. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Elizabeth Yarnold(06 of10)
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Elizabeth Yarnold of Britain celebrates her gold medal win during the women's skeleton competition at the 2014 Winter Olympics on 14 February in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Carl Froch(07 of10)
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Carl Froch of Britain (right), fights against Mikkel Kessler of Denmark during their super-middleweight world title unification boxing match at O2 Arena in London on 26 May 2013. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Charlotte Dujardin(08 of10)
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Charlotte Dujardin of Great Britain, riding Valegro, reacts after finishing her presentation during freestyle Grand Prix individual dressage competition at the FEI World Equestrian Games, at Michel d'Ornano stadium in Caen, western France, on 29 August. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Jo Pavey(09 of10)
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Britain's Jo Pave (right) leads France's France's Clemence Calvin in the 10 000m final during the European Athletics Championships in Zurich, Switzerland, 12 August. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Kelly Gallagher and her guide Charlotte Evans (10 of10)
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Gold medallists Kelly Gallagher of Great Britain (R) and guide Charlotte Evans celebrate during the medal ceremony for the Women's Super-G - Visually Impaired category during day three of Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games at Rosa Khutor Alpine Center on 10 March in Russia. (credit:Tom Pennington via Getty Images)