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RTÉ Sports Person of the Year

Irish sports award From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The RTÉ Sports Person of the Year Award is the titular award of the RTÉ Sports Awards ceremony, which takes place each December. The winner is the Irish sportsperson (from the island of Ireland) judged to have achieved the most that year. The winner was originally chosen by a special panel of RTÉ journalists and editorial staff, but was selected by a public vote from a predetermined shortlist in 2016.

Awarded forExcellence in sporting achievement
CountryIreland
Presented byRTÉ Sport
First award1985; 41 years ago (1985)
Quick facts Awarded for, Country ...
RTÉ Sports Personality of the Year Award
Awarded forExcellence in sporting achievement
CountryIreland
Presented byRTÉ Sport
First award1985; 41 years ago (1985)
Most recent winnerPaul O'Donovan (2024; rowing)
WebsiteOfficial website
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History

The first Irish sports award ceremony took place in 1985, and was closely modelled on the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award.

Four people have won the award multiple times: athlete Sonia O'Sullivan won the award five times, including a record three successive awards, and golfer Pádraig Harrington and boxer Katie Taylor, with three wins, and golfer Rory McIlroy, who won it twice. The oldest recipient of the award is Christy O'Connor Jnr, who won in 1989 aged 41. Rory McIlroy, who first won in 2011, aged 22, is the youngest winner. Ten sporting disciplines have been represented; golf has the highest representation, with eight recipients.

Eamonn Darcy, Ronan Rafferty and Des Smyth, who won the Alfred Dunhill Cup in 1988, are the only non-individual winners of the award. Counting them separately, there have been thirty-four winners of the award (from 1985 to 2024). Seven of these have been Northern Irish. The most recent award was made in 2024 to double Olympic champion rower Paul O'Donovan.

Winners

More information Year, Winner ...
RTÉ Sports Person of the Year Award winners
Year Winner Sport Sporting synopsis Ref.
1985 Barry McGuigan Boxing Defeated Eusebio Pedroza to become World Boxing Association featherweight champion. [1]
1986 Seán Kelly Cycling He finished on a podium in a grand tour for the first time when he finished third in the 1986 Vuelta a España. [1]
1987 Stephen Roche Cycling Winner of the 1987 Tour de France, 1987 Giro d'Italia and 1987 World Cycling Championships, becoming only the second man after Eddy Merckx to win cycling's Triple Crown. [1]
1988 Eamonn Darcy
Ronan Rafferty
Des Smyth		 Golf For winning the 1988 Dunhill Cup. [1]
1989 Christy O'Connor Jnr Golf For a "pivotal" 2 iron shot on the last hole at the Belfry which he left just 4 feet from the hole during the successful 1989 Ryder Cup.
1990 Packie Bonner Soccer For his penalty save from Daniel Timofte of Romania which propelled the Republic of Ireland to the quarter-final of the 1990 FIFA World Cup. [1]
1991 Ralph Keyes Rugby union Overall top scorer with 68 points at the 1991 Rugby World Cup.
1992 Michael Carruth Boxing Gold medallist in the welterweight section at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.
1993 Sonia O'Sullivan Athletics Silver medallist in the 1500m at the World Championships.
1994 Sonia O'Sullivan Athletics Gold medallist in the 3000m at the European Championships.
1995 Sonia O'Sullivan Athletics Gold medallist in the 5000m at the World Championships.
1996 Michelle Smith Swimming Triple Olympic gold medallist for the 400m individual medley, 400m freestyle and 200m individual medley, and bronze medallist for the 200m butterfly event.
1997 Ken Doherty Snooker Winner of the 1997 World Snooker Championship.
1998 Sonia O'Sullivan Athletics Double gold medallist at the World Cross-Country Championships and double gold medallist at the European Championships.
1999 Roy Keane Soccer Captain of the Manchester United team that completed a treble of English Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League successes.
2000 Sonia O'Sullivan Athletics Olympic silver medallist in the women's 5000m at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. This was her record fifth win in the RTÉ Sports Person of the Year. [2]
2001 Mick McCarthy Soccer Secured qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup for the Republic of Ireland national soccer team. [3]
2002 Pádraig Harrington Golf Member of the European team that won the 2002 Ryder Cup. [4]
2003 Barry Geraghty Horse racing Winning jockey of the Aintree Grand National on Monty's Pass. [5]
2004 Ronan O'Gara Rugby union Out-half of the Ireland team that won the Triple Crown in the 2004 Six Nations Championship. [6]
2005 Seán Óg Ó hAilpín Hurling All-Ireland- winning captain with Cork and winner of a third All-Ireland medal.
2006 Henry Shefflin Hurling Won his fourth All-Ireland medal with Kilkenny as well as being named Hurler of the Year for a second time. [7]
2007 Pádraig Harrington Golf Became the first Irishman in over sixty years to win the Open Championship. [8]
2008 Pádraig Harrington Golf Retained his Open Championship, thus becoming the first European to win back to back major championships.
2009 Brian O'Driscoll Rugby union Grand Slam-winning captain and member of the Leinster team that won the 2008–09 Heineken Cup [9]
2010 Graeme McDowell Golf Winner of the 2010 US Open and member of the European team that won the 2010 Ryder Cup. [10]
2011 Rory McIlroy Golf Winner of the 2011 US Open. [11]
2012 Katie Taylor Boxing Olympic gold medallist in the women's lightweight section at the 2012 London Olympic Games. [12]
2013 Tony McCoy Horse racing 18-times champion jockey who created history in November when he rode his 4,000th winner over jumps. [13]
2014 Rory McIlroy Golf Won the 2014 Open Championship and 2014 PGA Championship, became the first European to win three different majors, and was a member of the European team that won the 2014 Ryder Cup. [14]
2015 Michael Conlan Boxing Won the gold medal in the bantamweight division at the 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships. [15]
2016 Conor McGregor Mixed martial arts Became the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two divisions simultaneously. [16]
2017 James McClean Soccer Scored one of Ireland's most famous goals when he netted to secure a 1-0 win away to Wales, which secured a 2018 FIFA World Cup playoff spot. [17]
2018 Johnny Sexton Rugby union Won a Six Nations Grand Slam with Ireland, a Pro14-Champions Cup double with Leinster and was named World Rugby Player of the Year. [18]
2019 Shane Lowry Golf Winner of the 148th Open Championship at Royal Portrush Golf Club. [19]
2020 Katie Taylor Boxing Successfully defended her undisputed lightweight belts after defeating Delfine Persoon and Miriam Gutiérrez. [20]
2021 Rachael Blackmore Horse racing The first woman to win the Grand National and the first to claim the leading rider title at the Cheltenham Festival. [21]
2022 Katie Taylor Boxing Successfully defended her undisputed lightweight belts after defeating Amanda Serrano in a historic fight at Madison Square Garden, and also beating Karen Carabajal.[22]
2023 Rhys McClenaghan Gymnastics McClenaghan won a second European title and retained the world title in the 2023 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships. Entered Olympic year as reigning World, European and Commonwealth Games champion in the pommel horse. [23]
2024 Paul O'Donovan Rowing O'Donovan won a second Olympic gold medal and third Olympic Medal in a row alongside Fintan McCarthy, making him the first Irish athlete to win three consecutive Olympic medals and the most successful Irish Olympian. He also won a World title in the lightweight Single Sculls
2025 Rory McIlroy Golf McIlroy became the first Irish winner of the Masters and completing the career grand slam becoming the 6th place ever to do so and first European. He also won the Irish Open, The Ryder Cup and 3 PGA Tour wins. [24]
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By number of wins

This table lists those who have won more than once (ordered by the most wins, with the earliest win acting as a tie-breaker).

Accurate up-to and including the 2025 award.

More information Winner, Number of wins ...
Multiple winners
Winner Number of wins
Sonia O'Sullivan 5
Pádraig Harrington 3
Katie Taylor 3
Rory McIlroy 3
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By sport

This table lists the total number of awards won by the winner's sport (ordered by number of wins, with the earliest win acting as a tie-breaker). The 3 winners in 1988 (all golfers) are counted separately.

Accurate up-to and including the 2025 award.

More information Sport, Number of wins ...
Winners by sport
Sport Number of wins
Golf 12
Boxing 6
Athletics 5
Soccer 4
Rugby union 4
Horse racing 3
Cycling 2
Hurling 2
Swimming 1
Snooker 1
Mixed martial arts 1
Gymnastics 1
Rowing 1
Total 42
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By disability

So far (as of the 2022 awards) all winners have been able-bodied athletes, but para athletes among the nominees have included,

2010s winners and nominees

The winner is in bold.

2010

[25]

2011

[26]

2012

[27]

2013

[28]

2014

[29]

2015

[30]

2016

[31][32]

2017

[33][34]

2018

[35][36]

2019

[37][38]

2020s winners and nominees

The winner is in bold.

2020

[39][40][41]

2021

[42][43][44]

2022

[45][46]

2023

[47][23]

2024

2025

Young Sportsperson of the Year

More information Year, Winner ...
Year Winner Sport Sporting synopsis
2017 Mona McSharry Swimming Gold and Bronze medals at the 2017 World Junior Swimming Championships.
2018 Rhys McClenaghan Gymnastics Won Gold on the Pommel Horse at the Commonwealth Games and the European Gymnastics Championships.
2019 Won a Bronze medal at the World Championships becoming the first Irish gymnast to win a medal at the World Championships.
2020 Oisin O'Callaghan Mountain Biking World Junior Champion after winning Gold at the 2020 Mountain Bike World Championships in Austria.
2021 Gavin Bazunu Soccer The 19 year old became Ireland's first choice goalkeeper and saved Cristiano Ronaldo's penalty in Ireland's World Cup Qualifier against Portugal.
2022 Rhasidat Adeleke Athletics Finish 5th in the 400m at the European Championships in Munich breaking her own Irish Record
2023 Evan Ferguson Soccer The Brighton Striker became the youngest Irish player to score a hat-trick in the Premier League and only the fifth 18 year old to achieve that feat.
2024 Róisín Ní Ríain Para Swimming 2024 Paralympic Games Silver and Bronze medalist in Swimming also came fourth in her two other events.
2025 John Shortt Swimming Double Gold medalist at the 2025 World Junior Swimming Championships also won Bronze and two more European Junior medal including one Gold.
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2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

References

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