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Norway and Olympique Lyonnais striker Ada Hegerberg has spoken of her "special honour" after being crowned the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year 2017.

Ada, 21, finished ahead of second-placed Brazil forward Marta and third-placed Canada captain Christine Sinclair following a public vote involving thousands of fans from across the world. The stellar list of nominees on the five-player shortlist for the BBC World Service award was completed by Sweden goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl and Germany's Melanie Behringer.

"Wow, it's a surprise," Ada told the BBC after her sister, Norway and Birmingham City Ladies midfielder Andrine Hegerberg, presented her with the award in front of her Olympique Lyonnais team-mates in France.

"It's really special, so many people from different cultures and countries voting for this trophy, it's a huge motivation in itself.

"It's a huge honour to win, with such big-name footballers nominate."

Ada, 21, won the treble in France last year, capturing the Division 1 title, Coupe de France and the Champions League, the latter of which Olympique Lyonnais will seek to retain - and complete back-to-back trebles - when they face Paris St-Germain in Thursday's all-French final in Cardiff.

Victory in the Champions League would complete a spectacular year for striker Ada, who played a pivotal role in her club's treble winning season with 33 League goals and 13 in the Champions League, including the opener in the 2016 final in which Olympique beat German outfit Wolfsburg.

She was also the only player to score more goals than Cristiano Ronaldo in Uefa competitions in 2016, netting 18 compared to the Real Madrid and Portugal forward's 17.

Ada is close to repeating last year's success this term as Lyon have already sealed the Frenc League title and the Cup, in which she scored the winning penalty in a shootout with Paris St-Germain.

Hegerberg was voted Uefa Best Women's Player in Europe for 2016 and became the first female winner in 20 years of Norway's Golden Ball award for the country's best footballer.

She now becomes the third winner of the prestigious BBC World Service award, following in the footsteps of Nigeria forward Asisat Oshoala (2015) and Scotland midfielder Kim Little (2016). 

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