WILL lightning strike twice? Former winners of the RTÉ Sport Team of the Year award, Olympic champions Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy are in the running to win the accolade for the second time in three years.
The 2022 winners have been shortlisted for the 2024 award and, if anything, their credentials this year are even stronger after winning Olympic gold in the men’s lightweight double sculls in Paris. It was back-to-back Olympic gold medals for the Skibbereen dream team following their success in Tokyo.
Also shortlisted for RTÉ Sport Team of the Year award are four All-Ireland winning teams (Clare, hurling; Armagh, football; Kerry, ladies’ football; Cork, camogie), League of Ireland Men's Premier Division champions Shelbourne, the Irish men’s rugby team that won the Six Nations, Paralympic cycling medallists Katie George Dunleavy and Linda Kelly and the Irish mixed 4x400m relay team that won European gold.
Paul O’Donovan also finds himself nominated for the RTÉ Sport Sportsperson of the Year award after a year that saw him become the first Irish sportsperson to win three Olympic medals at three different Games and also win a SEVENTH World Rowing Championship gold medal. Also nominated are fellow Olympic gold medallists Kellie Harrington, Daniel Wiffen and Rhys McClenaghan, as well as boxers Katie Taylor and Anthony Cacace, athletes Rhasidat Adeleke and Ciara Mageean, Hurler of the Year Shane O’Donnell, Paralympic athletes Katie-George Dunlevy and Róisín Ní Ríain, and jockey Paul Townend.
The winner will be announced at the RTÉ Sport Awards this Saturday night, December 15th, at 9.30pm, live on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.
