Atherton is set for a night with the stars

Downhill mountain bike racer Atherton has been nominated for the top award alongside the likes of Jessica Ennis-Hill, Lizzie Yarnold and Lizzie Armistead.

The 27-year-old recently capped one of her finest seasons to date, dominating the World Cup Series with six wins from seven rounds.

She also finished the downhill season as national and world champion.

But her latest accolade is about more than winning, it is about promoting a sport and inspiring women to get active, fit and healthy.

She said: "It's amazing. It's one of things that makes it so exciting, getting mountain biking into the spotlight alongside these more mainstream athletes.

Amazing

"That makes people sit up and take more notice of the sport, which is amazing. It's what I've always worked for in my career, pushing it up into the mainstream media.

"We're going today and it doesn't matter who wins, it's just a massive honour to be nominated. It's amazing to go down to London and have a meal, meet all the women and get inspiration from it."

The Salisbury-born star moved up to Oswestry in her mid-teens alongside her parents and two brothers, Dan and Gee, who were both keen enthusiasts on two wheels and later highly successful.

"We've lived up here for 15 years. We lived just outside Oswestry at Llangynog and I went to school there," Atherton said.

"We've done all of our training here. I was about 15 when we moved up. All the riding to get to where I am in my career has been from Oswestry, so it's pretty cool."

Atherton left school pondering whether to stick with college. But after much deliberation, she persuaded her parents to allow her to pursue a career in mountain biking.

By 2008 she was collecting a world title at the age of 20, justifying her decision.

She added: "I just thought people did it on a weekend and that was it.

"It wasn't until some time later when I saw people do it for a living. I was about 15 when I went to watch the Downhill World Cup at Fort Williams in Scotland and a British girl won.

"That was 2004, I remember seeing her stood on the podium and I thought, 'that's what I want to do, I want to be like her'.

"I wanted everyone to be there watching me – that was the turning point. I went to college in Oswestry and I persuaded my mum and dad to let me drop out. I said, 'give me two years to try and make a go of it. And if I didn't then I would go back to college.

"When I won the Elite World Championships for the first time in 2008, I was first-year elite and it just kind of happened.

"I was 20 years old and it dawned on me that I was the best in the world, better than all of the girls that I'd been looking up to for years.

"My brother Gee also won G1 and we were both world champions on the same day at the same time."

In 2005, 18-year-old Atherton pocketed the BBC Midlands Junior Sportswoman of the year. Ten years later she is up for more accolades, so does she get a kick out of inspiring other women?

She said: "Those things (previous awards) are amazing. We do work quite hard trying to push ourselves and make the media aware of what's going on – it doesn't just happen by accident. We have to be pro-active and it's paying off."

But it's riding that gives Atherton the main buzz.

"Whether on cross-country or downhill biking on Cannock Chase or the mountains of Wales, I always describe it as a dance," she said. "Everything fits together perfectly and effortlessly – it's seamless. It feels like you're flying and you're invincible.

"It's an amazing feeling and I think that people can get that from all kinds of sport, it's just about finding which sport is ticking the boxes for you."