And Still – Katie Taylor remains Ireland’s Most Admired Athlete

Katie Taylor retained her status as Ireland’s most admired athlete.

The Irish Icon was voted the most admired sports person in the country for the 6th year running taking a massive 21% of all votes in the Teneo Sport and Sponsorship Index.

The Bray native shared top spot last year with Kellie Harrington but, having remained active this year with victories over Amanda Serrano and Karen Carabajal, her enduring popularity shows no sign of fading.

Rachael Blackmore took second spot on 7% having backed up a successful 2021 by claiming the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Henry De Bromhead’s A Plus Tard.

Olympic Champion Harrington, who missed the World Championships due to injury but bounced back to win European gold, was tied on 6% alongside World Rugby Player of the Year nominee, Jonathan Sexton. Once again Irish female sports stars and boxing are dominating, with two of the top four chosen by the public female.

The record-breaking Ireland Women’s Boxing team who backed up a two-gold medal haul at the World Championships in May by travelling to the European Championships in Montenegro and claiming an unprecedented three gold, two silver and two bronze medals came third in Team of the Year voting behind the Irish Women’s Football Team and the Iris Rugby Team.

Taylor’s historic Madison Square Garden hosted split decision win over Amanda Serrano and Ireland’s victory in their third Test against the All Blacks to win the series were the joint most memorable sporting moments of the year on 23%.

Joint third place on 9% went to Shane Lowry for his emotional interview after winning the BMW PGA Championship and Amber Barrett’s goal against Scotland which secured their place at the 2023 World Cup 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%).

The TSSI is a comprehensive 1,000 person nationally representative survey with quotas imposed across gender, region, age, and social class. The research was carried out by Teneo’s Sports Advisory team and examines the Irish general public’s attitudes towards sport and their sporting heroes. This is the view of the general public and not a survey of sports fans. It is the 13th year of the TSSI and the research was carried out between November 17th and 25th 2022.

Kelli O’Keeffe, Managing Director, Teneo Ireland: “2022 was a phenomenally successful year for Irish athletes and sports teams across the board. The results of this research demonstrate that women’s sport, and our female athletes, have cemented their place in the psyche of the Irish public for their world class performances and achievements again this year. The FAI Women’s National Team won the hearts of the nation in qualifying for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and we are delighted to see them being voted as the nation’s Team of the Year. Having topped the list of most admired athletes in 2021, Katie Taylor, Kellie Harrington and Rachael Blackmore are once again leading the way, along with Jonathan Sexton, as role models for our young boys and girls and ambassadors for the country.”