Last Sunday’s win for Andy Murray in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year was something of a foregone conclusion, having ended 70 years of a Wimbledon men’s singles drought. His success has failed to halt a decline in tennis playing numbers in the UK but it would have been a major upset for him not to win the accolade.
A similar stand out candidate does not exist in a very strong field for the RTE Sports Award equivalent which will be televised live this coming Saturday, December 21st.
The nominees for the individual award are:
- World Champion Walker Rob Heffernan,
- World Champion Cyclist Martyn Irvine,
- Hurler and Young Hurler of the Year Tony Kelly,
- Footballer of the Year Michael Darragh Macauley,
- Record breaking Champion Jump Jockey Tony McCoy,
- Paralympian Double World Champions Michael McKillop and Jason Smyth,
- European Laser Sailing Champions Annalise Murphy,
- Flat Racing Champion Jockey Joseph O’Brien,
- World Championship Silver Medallist boxer Jason Quigley,
- British and irish Lions and irish International Rugby Star Jonathan Sexton.
There have been campaigns for others who were omitted from the list including Dan Martin and Nicholas Roche in Cycling, Aileen Reid in Triathlon, Michael Dunlop and Eugene Laverty in motorbike racing but none of those on the list deserve to be dropped and the shortlist is a reflection of the strength across so many sports that Ireland currently enjoys.
In the team of the year event there is a touch more controversy with the omission of the Irish Cricket team which this year won an unprecedented three international trophies.
International team manager Phil Simmons told Sport for Business yesterday that “there was a disappointment among the players that their success of 2013 has not been recognised with at least a nomination but all we can do is prepare and play our best to represent Ireland to the best of our abilities.”
It is a shame that the team is missing from the list, as it was last year when the Paralympics team was beaten by Leinster Rugby to the accolade. The Team award is chosen by a public vote from those who are shortlisted and and will therefore always favour the majority sports. Nevertheless, the team did enough to at least be given a shout.
The nominees for Team of the Year are:
- All Ireland Hurling Champions Clare
- All Ireland Football Champions Dublin
- All Ireland Ladies Football Champions Cork
- All Ireland Camogie Champions Galway
- Ireland men’s Boxing Team
- The Grand Slam winning Ireland Women’s Rugby team
- RaboDirect Pro 12 and Amlin Cup Winners Leinster
- Ireland Paralympic Swimming Team
- Airtricity League Winners St Patrick’s Athletic
