Could an athlete from Olympic sport continue the decade-long tradition of winning the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award in an Olympic year?

A quick look down the list of winners over the past decade shows that an Olympic year has always resulted in an athlete from an Olympic sport being crowned with the prestigious BBC award: Redgrave (2000), Radcliffe (2002), Holmes (2004), Phillips (2006) and Hoy (2008).

Four Olympic athletes have been nominated to the 10-strong shortlist this year: Amy Williams (skeleton), Jessica Ennis (athletics), Tom Daley (diving) and Mark Cavendish (cycling).

There can be no doubt Amy Williams inspired the nation back in February when she became Team GB's first individual-sport Winter Olympic Champion for 30 years with victory in the skeleton - a very special achievement.

As Chef de Mission I was privileged to be trackside at the Whistler Sliding Centre to witness Amy's incredible performance and it goes down as one of the most memorable moments of my life.

World heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis is on the shortlist for the second year running, having enjoyed another fantastic year during which she claimed the European heptathlon title and the world indoor pentathlon crown.

A recent survey for the National Lottery revealed she will complete around 10,000 hours of training in the four-year run-up to London 2012 – an amazing level of effort and dedication.

Ennis has already received one well-deserved accolade this month as she and Mo Farah were voted Athletes of the Year by the British Athletics Writers Association.

Joining the Olympic line up is diver Tom Daley, who added double gold at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi to his previous World and European titles, and Mark Cavendish, who excelled once again in 2010, winning five stages of the Tour de France, finishing second overall on points and claiming the Green Jersey in the Tour of Spain.

The fact that four of the 10 shortlisted athletes are from Olympic sports says something very powerful about the prominence of Olympic sport in the UK. In fact, if you look at the shortlists for the last three years, Olympic athletes account for 17 of the 30 nominees – a reflection of the high level of esteem and respect we have for our Olympic athletes in the UK.

I'm also delighted to see that all 10 of the athletes in contention for the Young Sports Personality of the Year award are representatives of Olympic and Paralympic sport, demonstrating the wealth of exciting potential waiting in the wings for Team GB and ParalympicsGB in years to come.

I was particularly pleased that three members of Team GB's successful Youth Olympic Games contingent made the shortlist, including gold medallists Jade Jones (taekwondo) and Sam Oldham (gymnastics) alongside the remarkable Tom Daley, who is aiming to win this award for the third time.

We are all looking forward to another night of spectacular entertainment from the BBC, whether you're in the audience in Birmingham or on the sofa watching the TV.

We're all in for another fantastic review of British sport to conclude what has been an incredible decade for British Olympic sport in particular.

Andy Hunt is the chief executive of the British Olympic Association and Team GB Chef de Mission for London 2012