Nikki Bradley is a woman who understands the value of ‘Never Give Up’.

Diagnosed with bone cancer at the age of 16 she elected to beat the disease by having her right leg amputated. Following her taking on the world through a series of physical challenges, and honest social media posts about her journey to the best possible prosthetic solution is an inspiration to anyone who has suffered a setback and indeed to anyone at all.

The Donegal native has worked as a Development Officer with Ulster Triathlon in which capacity she appeared at a Sport for Business Inclusion event in 2021 and last year was a brand ambassador with the VHI Women’s Mini Marathon.

She is a campaigner with Active Disability Ireland and while her influence may be different to that of politics and policy, it is no less powerful.

Nikki is the first of our 40 percent of new names on this year’s 50 Women of Influence in Irish Sport in partnership with AIG.

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See who else has been included so far on the list for 2023

This is the 11th edition of our Sport for Business listing of 50 Women of Influence in Irish Sport.

Read more about the list and nominate who you think should be a part of it in 2023.

We are proud to publish the list in partnership with AIG, an organisation that has pledged its commitment to equality in its partnerships with Gaelic Games, Tennis, Golf and more, for whom “Effort is Equal” and with whom we have ambitious plans to extend the reach of this annual celebration of the Women who are making a difference.

This year’s list will be drawn as before from the worlds of leadership, partnership, storytelling, and performance.

We began this journey in 2013 when challenged that we would never be able to produce a list of twenty Influential Women in Irish Sport. The 20 stretched to 30, then 40 and 50 and it still does not do justice to the talent that is out there.

This year once more, to keep things fresh we will step up again, raising the number of new entrants to at least 40 percent of fresh names from last year.

It will be the hardest part to have some names replaced but if it was too easy it would be of less value.

The list we will build over the coming weeks is a snapshot of those women who are making a mark on how sport is played, consumed, grown, and delivered.

They are part of making the role of women in sport unexceptional by being exceptional in what they do.