Echo Sportswoman of the Year for 2023 to be revealed: Meet the contenders
Clare Shine was the guest speaker at The Echo Women in Sport awards in 2023. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
THE 17th overall winner of the Echo Women in Sport awards will be revealed on Thursday night in The Metropole.
The prestigious awards scheme has recognised the most talented female athletes from a variety of sports since 2007 and there are 13 contenders this time for the 2023 honour, as Olympic-bound rowers Margaret Cremin and Aoife Casey were picked for the September monthly prize.
There will also be a new member of the Hall of Fame and an Outstanding Achievement winner.
Joanne O'Riordan is the guest speaker for the event.
Last year's Cork camogie captain Amy O'Connor was selected as the 2022 Sportswoman of the Year at a ceremony in Páirc Uí Chaoimh 12 months ago and after her hat-trick at Croke Park last August is in the mix again.
The previous overall winners of the Echo Women in Sport prize include some of the greatest Rebels of all-time with boxer Christina Desmond and rower Sanita Puspure both collecting the coveted trophy twice.
Irish soccer legend Denise O'Sullivan, who impressed at the World Cup last summer and is considered one of the most gifted midfielders in the game, was picked in 2014.
DEIRBHILE played a starring role in Munster’s 2023 Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship success and was chosen as The Echo Women in Sport award winner for the month of January.
The Munster rugby star helped her side to back-to-back championships, and she picked up two Player of the Match awards in three of Munster’s fixtures.
COURCEY ROVERS’ camogie star Saoirse McCarthy was chosen as The Echo Women in Sport award winner for the month of February after captaining MTU to Purcell Cup success.
Picking up the Player of the Match award in the final, the Cork senior was one of MTU’s standout players in their Purcell Cup win, and added to her exceptional season when Cork were crowned All-Ireland champions later in the year after defeating Waterford.
THE Address UCC Glanmire secured another Women’s Super League title, but not without the incredible performances of Claire O’Sullivan.
After settling in at Glanmire and overcoming the challenges of Covid and becoming a parent, she came good when the team needed her most — winning Player of the Month for February and following up with more top performances, ensuring their title success at the latter stages of the season.
Coming home with two gold, two silver, and one bronze medal, O’Mahony secured her gold titles in the 800m and shot putt.
Having to go through a bone marrow transplant at 18 to combat an acute lymphoblastic leukemia diagnosis would put an end to sport for many, but Mairéad fought back and achieved her dream.
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SCORING an impressive 11 points in the Munster Senior Ladies Football final against Kerry, Doireann O’Sullivan’s top performance helped earn the Cork ladies’ football team to a Munster title.
The Mourneabbey player’s performance in that final, after having recently worked her way back from an injury, ensured Doireann was awarded The Echo Women in Sport award for May.
The swimmer has established herself as the number one junior female breaststroker in the Munster region, setting two junior records at 50m and 100m breaststroke.
Her time of 32.57 over 50m was also a Munster senior record.
Sophie O’Sullivan’s brilliant victory at the European U23 championships over the 1500m distance in Finland saw her win The Echo Women in Sport award for July.
Daughter of Sonia O’Sullivan, Sophie’s performance in Finland was the first-ever win by an Irish athlete at this level, and at 21, she’s only just starting to make history.
CAPTAINING Cork to All-Ireland glory, in a game were O’Connor scored 3-7, there was no recipient more fitting for The Echo Women in Sport award for August.
Her display in the final was remarkable. Returning to the pitch after the half-time break, O’Connor scored three goals in a five-minute period at the start of the second half, ensuring Cork would secure the O’Duffy Cup once more, for the first time since 2018.
Margaret and Aoife have achieved this award before and have also qualified for the Olympics before — doing so for Tokyo 2020.
SARSFIELDS’ Clare Mullins received The Echo Women in Sport award for October, after her outstanding performance in their senior camogie final with Seandún, as she scored 1-2.
FROM Rylane Boxing Club, Linda Desmond was awarded the November The Echo Women in Sport award for her historic achievement of becoming the first Cork woman to win both senior and elite national boxing titles in the same season.
Desmond, from Millstreet, has spent the last 10 years working towards her goal and is a natural multi-talented athlete who has also competed in camogie, football, and rugby.
Glanmire Ladies became All-Ireland Junior Football Club champions after their win over Ballinamore Sean O’Heslin’s. Orlaith Roche stood out among the Glanmire team and received The Echo Women in Sport award for December for her performance.
Winning the player of the match award, Orlaith scored 2-1 from play. She netted her first goal inside two minutes to put Glanmire in front and won a penalty that was converted and extended their lead further.
Her second and Glanmire’s third goal was key – putting them 3-7 to 1-3 ahead and sealing the win.
Jessica Scannell.
Briege Corkery.
Olive Loughnane.
Derval O’Rourke.
Juliet Murphy.
Orla Barry.
Christina Desmond.
Denise O’Sullivan.
Lizzie Lee.
Rena Buckley.
Saoirse Noonan.
Sanita Puspure.
Christina Desmond.
Sanita Puspure.
Emily Hegarty
Amy O'Connor.
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