RTÉ Sports Person of the Year explained

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. 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-one winners of the award (from 1985 to 2021). Five of these have been Northern Irish. The most recent award was made in 2022 to Katie Taylor.

Winners

RTÉ Sports Person of the Year Award winners
scope=col	Year	scope=col	Nat.	scope=col	Winner	scope=col	Sport	Sporting synopsis	scope=col class="unsortable"	Ref.
1985	Ireland	scope=row		Boxing	Defeated Eusebio Pedroza to become World Boxing Association featherweight champion.
1986	Ireland	scope=row		Cycling	He finished on a podium in a grand tour for the first time when he finished third in the 1986 Vuelta a España.
1987	Ireland	scope=row		Cycling	Winner of the 1987 Tour de France, 1987 Giro d'Italia and 1987 World Cycling Championships.
1988	Ireland Ireland	scope=row		Golf	For winning the 1988 Dunhill Cup.
1989	Ireland	scope=row		Golf	For a stunning 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	Ireland	scope=row		Soccer	For his famous penalty save from Daniel Timofte of Romania at the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
1991	Ireland	scope=row		Rugby union	Overall top scorer with 68 points at the 1991 Rugby World Cup.
1992	Ireland	scope=row		Boxing	Gold medallist in the welterweight section at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.
1993	Ireland	scope=row		Athletics	Silver medallist in the 1500m at the World Championships.
1994	Ireland	scope=row		Athletics	Gold medallist in the 3000m at the European Championships.
1995	Ireland	scope=row		Athletics	Gold medallist in the 5000m at the World Championships.
1996	Ireland	scope=row		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	Ireland	scope=row		Snooker	Winner of the 1997 World Snooker Championship.
1998	Ireland	scope=row		Athletics	Double gold medallist at the World Cross-Country Championships and double gold medallist at the European Championships.
1999	Ireland	scope=row		Soccer	Captain of the Manchester United team that completed a treble of English Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League successes.
2000	Ireland	scope=row		Athletics	Olympic silver medallist in the women's 5000m at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.	^[1]
2001	Ireland	scope=row		Soccer	Secured qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup for the Republic of Ireland national soccer team.	^[2]
2002	Ireland	scope=row		Golf	Member of the European team that won the 2002 Ryder Cup.	^[3]
2003	Ireland	scope=row		Horse racing	Winner of the Aintree Grand National on Monty's Pass.	^[4]
2004	Ireland	scope=row		Rugby union	Member of the Ireland team that won the Triple Crown in the 2004 Six Nations Championship.	^[5]
2005	Ireland	scope=row		Hurling	All-Ireland- winning captain with Cork and winner of a third All-Ireland medal.
2006	Ireland	scope=row		Hurling	Won his fourth All-Ireland medal with Kilkenny as well as being named Hurler of the Year for a second time.	^[6]
2007	Ireland	scope=row		Golf	Became the first Irishman in over sixty years to win the Open Championship.	^[7]
2008	Ireland	scope=row		Golf	Retained his Open Championship, thus becoming the first European to win back to back major championships.
2009	Ireland	scope=row		Rugby union	Grand Slam-winning captain and member of the Leinster team that won the 2008–09 Heineken Cup	^[8]
2010		scope=row		Golf	Winner of the 2010 US Open and member of the European team that won the 2010 Ryder Cup.	^[9]
2011		scope=row		Golf	Winner of the 2011 US Open.	^[10]
2012	Ireland	scope=row		Boxing	Olympic gold medallist in the women's lightweight section at the 2012 London Olympic Games.	^[11]
2013		scope=row		Horse racing	18-times champion jockey who created history in November when he rode his 4,000th winner over jumps.	^[12]
2014		scope=row		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.	^[13]
2015	Ireland	scope=row		Boxing	Won the gold medal in the bantamweight division at the 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships.	^[14]
2016	Ireland	scope=row		Mixed martial arts	Became the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two divisions simultaneously.	^[15]
2017	Ireland	scope=row		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.	^[16]
2018	Ireland	scope=row		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.	^[17]
2019	Ireland	scope=row		Golf	Winner of the 148th Open Championship at Royal Portrush Golf Club.	^[18]
2020	Ireland	scope=row		Boxing	Successfully defended her undisputed lightweight belts after defeating Delfine Persoon and Miriam Gutiérrez.	^[19]
2021	Ireland	scope=row		Horse racing	The first woman to win the Grand National and the first to claim the leading rider title at the Cheltenham Festival.	^[20]
2022	Ireland	scope=row		Boxing	Successfully defended her undisputed lightweight belts after defeating Amanda Serrano in a historic fight at Madison Square Garden, and also beating Karen Carabajal.^[21]
2023		scope=row		Gymnastics	McClenaghan won a second European title and retained the world title in the 2023 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

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 2022 award.

Multiple winners
scope=col	Winner	scope=col	Number of wins
scope=row	Sonia O'Sullivan	5
scope=row	Pádraig Harrington	3
scope=row	Katie Taylor	3
scope=row	Rory McIlroy	2

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 2023 award.

Winners by sport
scope=col	Sport	scope=col	Number of wins
scope=row	Golf
scope=row	Boxing
scope=row	Athletics
scope=row	Soccer
scope=row	Rugby union
scope=row	Horse racing
scope=row	Cycling
scope=row	Hurling
scope=row	Swimming
scope=row	Snooker
scope=row	Mixed martial arts
scope=row	Gymnastics
Total

By nationality

This table lists the total number of awards won by each nationality. The 3 winners in 1988 (two from the Republic of Ireland, and one from Northern Ireland) are counted separately.

Accurate up-to and including the 2023 award.

Winners by nationality
scope=col	Nationality	scope=col	Number of wins
scope=row	IRL	35
scope=row	NIR	6
Total

By gender

This table lists the total number of awards won by the winner's gender. There have not yet been any mixed-gender winners (unlike figure-skating couple Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean in the British equivalent). The 3 (male) winners in 1988 are counted separately.

Accurate up-to and including the 2023 award.

Winners by gender
scope=col	Gender	scope=col	Number of wins
scope=row	Male
scope=row	Female
scope=row	Mixed
Total

By disability

So far (as of the 2022 awards) all winners have been able-bodied athletes, but para athletes among the nominees have included Jason Smyth (para athletics) in 2012 to 2014, 2017 to 2019, and 2021, and Katie George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal (para cycling) in 2016 and 2017.