BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year

BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year
CountryNorthern Ireland
Presented byBBC Northern Ireland
First awarded2003
Currently held byDaniel Wiffen (2024)

The BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year is an annual sports award organised by BBC Northern Ireland. It was first awarded in 2003, and has been awarded annually ever since, with the exception of 2016.

The award is conspicuously awarded to athletes whether they represent all of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain and Northern Ireland or even the Republic of Ireland or Europe (e.g. in golf), so long as they are from Northern Ireland. As of 2024, Rory McIlroy and Jonathan Rae share the record for most titles, each with three. Golf, with five awardees, is the most successful sport at the awards.

Winners

Rory McIlroy, three-time winner
Jonathan Rea, three-time winner
Year Winner Sport Rationale Ref.
2003 Peter Canavan Gaelic football Won the 2003 All-Ireland with Tyrone. [1]
2004 Margaret Johnston Lawn bowls Won a third outdoor World Bowls Championship singles. [2]
2005 David Healy Association football Scored the only goal in iconic 1-0 victory over England at Windsor Park. [3]
2006 Darren Clarke Golf Key role in winning 2006 Ryder Cup with Europe while grieving loss of his wife, Heather. [4]
2007 David Healy Association football Scored a hat-trick against Spain in Euro 2008 qualification. Ended as top scorer with 13 goals. [3]
2008 Sean Cavanagh Gaelic football Man of the match in 2008 All-Ireland final, winning a third title with Tyrone. [5]
2009 Jason Smyth Athletics Became first legally blind athlete to qualify for able-bodied European Athletics Championships. [6]
2010 Graeme McDowell Golf Won the 2010 U.S. Open [7]
2011 Rory McIlroy Golf Won the 2011 U.S. Open [8]
2012 Rory McIlroy Golf Won the 2012 USPGA and 2012 Ryder Cup. [9]
2013 Martyn Irvine Cycling Won the scratch race at the 2013 UCI World Track Championships to become Ireland and Northern Ireland's first track World Champion. [10]
2014 Rory McIlroy Golf Won the 2014 Open and USPGA, won both PGA Tour and European Tour. [11]
2015 Michael Conlan Boxing Won both the World and European Amateur Boxing Championships at bantamweight. [12]
2017 Jonathan Rea Motorcycle racing 3rd Superbike World Championship [13]
2018 Jacob Stockdale Rugby union Awarded Player of the 2018 Six Nations Championship, scoring a record seven tries as Ireland won Grand Slam. [14]
2019 Jonathan Rea Motorcycle racing 5th Superbike World Championship [15]
2020 Jonathan Rea Motorcycle racing 6th Superbike World Championship [16]
2021 Rachel Furness Association football [17]
2022 Rhys McClenaghan Artistic gymnastics Became World Artistic Gymnastics champion on pommel horse. Ireland's first world champion in the sport. [18]
2023 Ciara Mageean Athletics Broke the ParkRun 5k world record, and placed 4th in the World Athletics Championships. [19]
2024 Daniel Wiffen Swimming Became Olympic and double World champion in the pool, and Northern Ireland's first individual Olympic gold medalist for almost 40 years.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Canavan wins BBC award". BBC Sport. BBC. 6 December 2003. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
  2. ^ "Sports Minister bowls them over at Hillsborough". Northern Ireland Executive. 17 June 2008. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
  3. ^ a b "Healy claims BBC NI Sports award". BBC Sport. BBC. 7 December 2007. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
  4. ^ "Clarke wins BBC NI Sports award". BBC Sport. BBC. 30 November 2006. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Cavanagh gets BBC Sport NI award". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 December 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  6. ^ "BBC - Northern Ireland - BB Radio Foyle - North West Sports Personality 2007". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  7. ^ "Graeme McDowell wins BBC NI sports personality award". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  8. ^ "Rory McIlroy is named BBC NI Sport Personality of 2011". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  9. ^ "Rory McIlroy named BBC NI Sports Personality for 2012". BBC Sport. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  10. ^ "Martin Irvine named BBC NI Sports Personality for 2013". BBC Sport. 19 December 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  11. ^ "Rory McIlroy is named BBC NI's Sports Personality of 2014". bbc.co.uk. 15 December 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  12. ^ "Michael Conlan is named BBC NI's Sports Personality of 2015". bbc.co.uk. 16 December 2015.
  13. ^ "Jonathan Rea wins BBC NI Sports Personality of the Year award for 2017". BBC Sport. BBC. 19 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  14. ^ "Jacob Stockdale wins BBC NI Sports Personality of the Year award for 2018". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 December 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  15. ^ "Jonathan Rea crowned 2019 BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year". Belfast Newsletter. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  16. ^ "Jonathan Rea: WSBK champion wins BBC NI Sports Personality award for third time". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  17. ^ "NI Sports Personality of the Year: Record breaking goalscorer Rachel Furness wins award". BBC. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  18. ^ "Rhys McClenaghan Named 2022 BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year". www.bbc.co.uk. 23 December 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  19. ^ "Ciara Mageean: Portaferry runner named BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year". www.bbc.co.uk. 22 December 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
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