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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Michael Scully

Katie Taylor still on top in end of year vote as Vera Pauw's World Cup qualifiers lauded as Team of 2022

Katie Taylor remains Ireland's most admired athlete in the end of year Teneo Sport and Sponsorship Index as Vera Pauw's Ireland were named Team of the Year.

Taylor, 36, was involved in one of boxing's fights of 2022 when she beat Amanda Serrano in Madison Square Garden at the start of May.

With a Croke Park rematch on the cards for the summer of 2023, the Bray woman has topped the TSSI - a comprehensive 1,000 person nationally representative survey - for the sixth consecutive year.

READ MORE: Leinster set to stick to winning formula - But could they face another coaching twist?

Taylor picked up 21% of the vote - well clear of Rachael Blackmore in second place with 7% after her Cheltenham Gold Cup triumph on Henry De Bromhead's A Plus Tard.

Following her Tokyo gold medal exploits last year, Kellie Harrington shared top spot with Taylor in 2021.

A year on and Harrington, who claimed European gold after missing the Worlds through injury, has tied for third place with Johnny Sexton on 6%.

Ireland coach Zaur Antia celebrates with gold medalists Amy Broadhurst, Kellie Harrington and Aoife O’Rourke at the Euros (©INPHO/Aleksandar Djorovic)

Shane Lowry and Paul O'Donovan (both 5%) and Rory McIlroy and Ellen Keane (both 4%) rounded out the top seven.

The Team of the Year award was closely contested, with the Ireland Women's football team (26%) edging out the Ireland Men's rugby team (24%).

Pauw's outfit, skippered by Katie McCabe, qualified for the World Cup for the first time after beating Scotland in a play-off in Glasgow in October, and have been drawn in a group with hosts Australia for next summer's finals.

Andy Farrell's Ireland end 2022 as the world's top ranked side, having claimed the Triple Crown in the spring before winning a tour series in New Zealand for the first time, and rounding off the year with wins over South Africa, Fiji and Australia.

The Ireland Women's boxing team were third in the Team voting.

The team won two gold medals in the Worlds before adding three gold, two silver and two bronze medals in the Europeans in what was a record-breaking year.

Next in line were the all-dominant Limerick senior hurlers (8%), the Worlds winning rowing duo Fintan McCarthy and Paul O'Donovan (7%), the Kerry senior footballers (5%) and the Meath Ladies footballers (4%).

That summer Test series triumph in New Zealand was deemed the greatest sporting achievement of the year, taking 22% of the votes ahead of Ireland's play-off victory in Scotland (135).

Taylor's lightweight world championship win over Serrano finished third in the category (9%) - yet that success tied with the rugby team's third Test victory against the All Blacks for most memorable sporting moment (23%).

Joint third place on 9% went to Lowry for his emotional interview after winning the BMW PGA Championship and to Amber Barrett’s winning goal against Scotland, which she dedicated to the people of Creeslough.

Rhys McClenaghan’s pommel horse performance that landed him, and Ireland’s first ever World Gymnastics gold medal was voted fifth (7%).

Ireland’s Amber Barrett scores at Hampden Park (Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne)

Not surprisingly it is Soccer, Rugby and Gaelic Games that hold down the top three berths in the voting for Ireland's favourite sports.

Tied on top spot with Soccer in 2021, Gaelic Games is once again the nation’s favourite in 2022 with 20%, followed by Soccer (17%) and Rugby (13%).

Tennis is once again the nation’s fourth favourite sport (6%), with golf and horse racing also making the top five on 4%.

Despite previous disappointments, it is the 2023 Rugby World Cup that those surveyed are most looking forward to next year in terms of a sporting event (18%).

The GAA All Ireland Senior Football Championship comes second (12%), followed by the Six Nations Championship and GAA All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, tied on third place with 11%.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup taking place in Australia rounds also made the top five (10%).

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