The BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards ceremony takes place this evening, live from Birmingham. Who do you think deserves to takes home the top award of the night?

The annual awards show began in 1954 and since then several new awards have been introduced.

At present eight awards are given out on the night, including Sports Personality Team of the Year, Sports Personality of the Year Coach and Sports Unsung Hero.

The biggest award of the evening is of course the Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY), which last year was won by Andy Murray.

There are 16 contenders in the 2016 shortlist for this category, these are Nicola Adams (boxing), Gareth Bale (football), Alistair Brownlee (triathlon), Sophie Christiansen (equestrian), Kadeena Cox (athletics/cycling), Mo Farah (athletics), Jason Kenny (cycling), Laura Kenny (cycling), Andy Murray (tennis), Adam Peaty (swimming), Kate Richardson-Walsh (hockey), Nick Skelton (equestrian), Dame Sarah Storey (cycling), Jamie Vardy (football), Max Whitlock (gymnastics) and Danny Willett (golf).

Televised coverage of the event will kick off from 6.40pm on BBC One and the programme is set to run until 9pm, with the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award being announced shortly before the end.

• Who do you think deserves to be crowned SPOTY? Vote in our poll and let us know why in the comments below.