Two Cork athletes on the shortlist of 10 for RTÉ Sportsperson of the Year

CORK stars Denise O'Sullivan and Sanita Puspure have been included in the final shortlist for the RTÉ Sport Awards 2019 Sportsperson of the Year.

Northsider O'Sullivan has been outstanding for Ireland and with her club North Carolina Courage, while Ballincollig-based Puspure retained her gold medal at the World Champions in the summer.

Darragh and Joanne Cantwell will present the RTÉ Sport Awards 2019 live on RTÉ One next Saturday at 9.30pm. Along with the Sportsperson of the Year award the show will also see the Young Sportsperson of the Year, Team of the Year and Manager of the Year honoured as well as a new inductee to the RTÉ Sport Hall of Fame.

Nominees:

SEAMUS CALLANAN: Tipperary’s All-Ireland winning captain finished his summer with a scoring contribution of 8-18, scoring eight goals in eight games, including a goal and two points in their final win over Kilkenny.

STEPHEN CLUXTON: The inspirational Dublin stopper captained his side to a fifth All-Ireland title in-a-row. 37-year-old Cluxton had a phenomenal year, pulling off a string of vital saves and continuing to re-define the goalkeeper position.

NIAMH KILKENNY: Kilkenny collected the Camogie Association/WGPA Senior Players’ Player of the Year award following Player of the Match displays in both the All-Ireland semi-final and final, as the Tribeswomen claimed a third ever O’Duffy Cup.

SHANE LOWRY: The golfer Shane Lowry claimed his first major title in commanding fashion in the 148th Open at Royal Portrush. The Clara man battled miserable conditions to become the fifth Irish player to lift the Claret Jug. 

CIARA MAGEEAN: She ran a personal best in the 1500m final at the Athletics World Championships in Doha, finishing in 10th place amongst a stellar field. She is only the second Irishwoman in history to make the world 1500m final, after Sonia O’Sullivan in 1997.

RHYS McCLENAGHAN: He created history this year as he became the first Irish gymnast to medal at the World Championships, after claiming a bronze medal in the pommel horse in Stuttgart.

DENISE O’SULLIVAN: The Republic of Ireland star helped North Carolina Courage to the National Women's Soccer League title in the USA for the second year running. She was also named the clubs ‘Most Valuable Player’ for the second campaign in a row. The 72 cap international was also in excellent form for country and was named ‘Women's Senior International Player of the Year’.

SANITA PUSPURE: The Latvian-born rower successfully retained her women's single sculls gold medal at the Rowing World Championships in Austria. The Ballincolling resident also won a gold medal in the single sculls event at the European Rowing Championships in Lucerne, and in doing so, set a new European record.

JASON SMYTH: Derry sprinter Smyth scorched his way to his eighth World Para-Athletics Championships gold medal, winning the 100m in the T13 class in Dubai in a championship record time of 10.54 seconds. 

KATIE TAYLOR The Bray boxer made history by unifying all four world lightweight titles with a hard-fought, narrow victory over Delfine Persoon at Madison Square Garden in New York.