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RTÉ Sport Awards Sportsperson of the Year nominees revealed

The ten nominees
The ten nominees

Saturday 17 December will see Jacqui Hurley, Evanne Ní Chuilinn and Ruby Walsh present the RTÉ Sport Awards 2022 live on RTÉ One.

Awards being handed out on the night in front of an audience of Irish sports stars include RTÉ Sport Sportsperson of the Year, RTÉ Sport Team of the Year, RTÉ Sport Manager of the Year and RTÉ Sport Young Sportsperson of the Year.

This year's nominees for the RTÉ Sport Sportsperson of the Year are listed below, in alphabetical order.

RACHAEL BLACKMORE

The national hunt jockey had another record-breaking year, as she became the first woman to land the Cheltenham Gold Cup with A Plus Tard. A few days earlier, she retained the Champion Hurdle with Honeysuckle. The Festival big-race double was the first achieved by a jockey since AP McCoy in 1997.

AMY BROADHURST

Dundalk boxer Broadhurst claimed gold at the World Championships in Istanbul in impressive style and followed up that success by winning gold at the Woman's European Championships, whilst also being named Boxer of the Tournament.

DAVID CLIFFORD

The Kerry forward played a pivotal role as the Kingdom won the All-Ireland Championship for the first time in eight years. The 23-year-old was rewarded for his performance by being named the 2022 PwC GAA/GPA All-Star Footballer of the Year.

RONAN GRIMES

The paracyclist had a year to remember after winning a series of international medals, including golds at the paracycling World and European Road Championships in the C4 road races, and silver in the individual pursuit at the Paracycling Track World Championship.

CIARA MAGEEAN

The Portaferry native claimed silver at the European Championships in the 1500m. Mageean followed that by running under four minutes for the first time in her career in the Brussels Diamond League event, becoming the fastest Irish women ever over the distance and breaking Sonia O’Sullivan’s long-standing record by over two seconds.

KATIE McCABE

The Arsenal star and Republic of Ireland captain was named the FAI's Women's Senior Player of the Year following a series of standout performances, which helped Vera Pauw's side seal a historic first ever qualification for a major tournament with a World Cup play-off win away to Scotland.

RHYS McCLENAGHAN

Newtownards native McClenaghan won gold at the FIG World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool on the pommel horse. In doing so, the County Down man became Ireland's first world champion in gymnastics.

RORY McILROY

The 33-year-old had a year of exceptional consistency to become just the second player to capture the top prizes on both the PGA and European tours, and was also crowned World No 1 in the same year.

KATIE TAYLOR

The Bray boxer remained unbeaten in all 22 professional fights to retain her IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO world lightweight titles, first in the iconic Madison Square Garden with a career defining victory over great rival Amanda Serrano, and then over Argentinian Karen Elizabeth Carabajal in London.

JOSH VAN DER FLIER

The Ireland and Leinster flanker was named World Rugby Men's Player of the Year after a string of outstanding performances, including during Ireland’s historic tour victory in New Zealand, and against World Champions South Africa in November.

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