Nicole Cooke has won The Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year award.

The 25-year-old was recognised for her outstanding year, which saw her win gold in the road race in Beijing and also win the world road race title.

She is the first cyclist to achieve the double and only the sixth Briton to win the latter.

"What a great honour!" said Cooke. "I did not expect this at all and am very grateful to everyone at The Sunday Times who supported me and voted for me."

Cooke beat Olympic sprint champion Victoria Pendleton and jockey Hayley Turner, who in 2008 became the first woman to ride 100 winners in a calendar year, for the award.

Meanwhile Swansea-based swimmer Eleanor Simmonds, who became a Paralympic double gold medallist at the age of 13, won the Paralympian of the Year.

Nominations for the 10 categories were made by the public and voted on by a panel of judges from the worlds of sport, physical education and the media.