The RTÉ Sport Awards will crown a new Sportsperson of the Year tonight in a showpiece occasion gathering together eight of Ireland's most successful sports stars of 2021.
A record six female nominees are included on the list for 2021 following another remarkable year for Irish sports stars both at home and abroad.
National Hunt jockey Rachael Blackmore twice made history this year. Firstly, with a stunning week at the Cheltenham Festival, where she was the first ever female to be crowned ‘Top Jockey’ with six wins, including in the Champion Hurdle with Honeysuckle. Following on from this success, she wrote her name into Aintree lore as she became the first female jockey to win the Randox Grand National with Minella Times.
Para-Swimmer Ellen Keane is among the nominees having won her first gold at her fourth Paralympics Games, claiming Ireland’s first medal in Tokyo. The 26-year-old took gold in the SB8 100m breaststroke with the best performance of her life.
Jason Smyth makes the list after he added to his outstanding record at Paralympic Games, winning gold for the sixth time in the T13 100m final. Entering his fourth Games fter success at Beijing, London and Rio, the Derry native edged the victory in a photo finish by just 0.01 seconds to cement his place amongst the Paralympic greats.
Patrickswell and Limerick hurler Cian Lynch is nominated after he lit up the All-Ireland hurling championship and was in inspirational form for an imperious Limerick side as they clinched back-to-back All-Ireland titles for the first time ever behind Lynch's haul of six points. He earned himself the Man of the Match award for his display.
Undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor made three successful defences of her titles to earn herself a nomination. She saw off Natasha Jonas, Jennifer Han and Firuza Sharipova to bring her professional record to 20-0.
Fellow boxer Kellie Harrington is nominated after she lifted the country with fantastic boxing displays en route to Olympic gold in Tokyo. She claimed a unanimous decision victory over Beatriz Ferreira of Brazil and had huge crowds turn out to her native Portland Row to welcome her back to a heroine's welcome.
Leona Maguire gets the nod for a nomination after she made her Solheim Cup debut to great effect, helping Europe to a famous victory on US soil in Toledo. The Cavan women’s singles victory over Jennifer Kupcho gave her four-and-a-half points from five matches, a record for a rookie on either side, as Europe claimed a hard-fought 15-13 victory.
Meath’s Vikki Wall earns a nomination fresh from being named as the 2021 Senior Players’ Player of the Year after some huge displays for the Royal County. As her team claimed a first ever All-Ireland Senior title, the Dunboyne star scored 1-6 during the Championship, and produced a ‘Player of the Match’ performance in their famous final victory over Dublin.
Here is all you need to know ahead of the award ceremony.
When is it?
The awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, December 18.
What time does it begin?
The ceremony will begin at 9.20pm.
What channel is it on?
The award show will be presented by Darragh Maloney and Joanne Cantwell and will be shown live on RTÉ One.
You can also follow all of the results with Irish Mirror Sport's RTE Sport Awards live blog.
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