KATIE TAYLOR HAS been voted Ireland’s most admired athlete for the eighth successive year, with fellow boxing star Kellie Harrington deemed to have provided the country with the most memorable sporting moment of 2024 according to the annual Teneo Sport and Sponsorship Index (TSSI).
The TSSI surveys 1,000 people across the Republic of Ireland with quotas imposed across gender, region, age and social class. Its results are representative of the Irish general public as opposed to sports fans specifically. This year’s research was conducted between 5 December and 13 December.
Undisputed light-welterweight boxing champion Taylor topped the tree for the eighth year running as the nation’s most admired sportsperson. The Bray woman, who defended her crown against Amanda Serrano at Cowboys Stadium, Dallas, last month, took a 15% share of that particular vote, with Olympic 400m sprinter Rhasidat Adeleke in second place on 11%.
Olympic 60kg boxing champion Kellie Harrington was fractionally third (10%), with her fellow Paris gold medal winners Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy — the rowers considered a duo for the purposes of the poll — sharing fourth place with Connacht and Ireland rugby star Bundee Aki (7%).
Jockey Rachael Blackmore (5%) and three-time golf major winner Padraig Harrington (4%) completed the top eight.
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The overall Irish Olympic team, which took home four gold and three bronze medals from Paris, was the nation’s favourite ‘team’ with 28% of the vote.
Second was the Irish men’s rugby team (17%), who retained their Six Nations title back in March. The women’s 4x400m relay team, who finished fourth in the Olympics but also claimed silver at the European Championships in Rome in June, were third on 14%.
The public determined that Ireland’s most memorable sporting moment of 2024 was Kellie Harrington’s rendition of ‘Grace’ which she delivered to supporters inside Roland Garros Stadium following her Olympic final success against China’s Yang Wenlu (14%).
In joint second place were Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy’s own retention of their Olympic lightweight double sculls crown and Katie Taylor’s repeat success over Amanda Serrano last month (11%).
Daniel Wiffen’s post-race interview following his Olympic gold medal in the 800m freestyle took an 8% share of that particular vote, level with both the women’s 4x400m team’s fourth-placed finish in Paris and Ciarán Frawley’s winning drop-goal in Ireland’s second summer test against the world-champion Springboks.
Gaelic games, which were grouped together in the survey, topped the poll as Ireland’s favourite sport on 20%. Were those sports to be separated, soccer would be seen as the general public’s favourite sport with an 18% share in its own right.
Rugby was third on 15%, with tennis and golf next up on 5% each. Athletics dropped one spot from 2023 to sixth, taking 4% of the vote alongside horse racing and motorsport.
Ireland's Joe McCarthy and his brother Andrew celebrate Six Nations success. The championship is the most anticipated sporting event of 2025. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Peering ahead to 2025, the sporting event that the nation is most looking forward to is, by a significant margin, the men’s Six Nations (30%), in which Ireland will seek a three-peat as the reigning back-to-back champions.
The second most anticipated event of 2025 is the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (15%), followed closely by its football equivalent (12%).
The TSSI also determined that one in five of all adults volunteered at a sporting club or in a sports initiative in 2024, with the average amount of time spent volunteering being just under nine hours per month.
The highest rate of sports volunteering occurs among 35- to 44-year-olds, of whom almost one in four (24%) volunteered over the calendar year.
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Taylor, Adeleke and Harrington top the tree as Ireland's most admired athletes in 2024
KATIE TAYLOR HAS been voted Ireland’s most admired athlete for the eighth successive year, with fellow boxing star Kellie Harrington deemed to have provided the country with the most memorable sporting moment of 2024 according to the annual Teneo Sport and Sponsorship Index (TSSI).
The TSSI surveys 1,000 people across the Republic of Ireland with quotas imposed across gender, region, age and social class. Its results are representative of the Irish general public as opposed to sports fans specifically. This year’s research was conducted between 5 December and 13 December.
Undisputed light-welterweight boxing champion Taylor topped the tree for the eighth year running as the nation’s most admired sportsperson. The Bray woman, who defended her crown against Amanda Serrano at Cowboys Stadium, Dallas, last month, took a 15% share of that particular vote, with Olympic 400m sprinter Rhasidat Adeleke in second place on 11%.
Olympic 60kg boxing champion Kellie Harrington was fractionally third (10%), with her fellow Paris gold medal winners Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy — the rowers considered a duo for the purposes of the poll — sharing fourth place with Connacht and Ireland rugby star Bundee Aki (7%).
Jockey Rachael Blackmore (5%) and three-time golf major winner Padraig Harrington (4%) completed the top eight.
The overall Irish Olympic team, which took home four gold and three bronze medals from Paris, was the nation’s favourite ‘team’ with 28% of the vote.
Second was the Irish men’s rugby team (17%), who retained their Six Nations title back in March. The women’s 4x400m relay team, who finished fourth in the Olympics but also claimed silver at the European Championships in Rome in June, were third on 14%.
The public determined that Ireland’s most memorable sporting moment of 2024 was Kellie Harrington’s rendition of ‘Grace’ which she delivered to supporters inside Roland Garros Stadium following her Olympic final success against China’s Yang Wenlu (14%).
In joint second place were Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy’s own retention of their Olympic lightweight double sculls crown and Katie Taylor’s repeat success over Amanda Serrano last month (11%).
Daniel Wiffen’s post-race interview following his Olympic gold medal in the 800m freestyle took an 8% share of that particular vote, level with both the women’s 4x400m team’s fourth-placed finish in Paris and Ciarán Frawley’s winning drop-goal in Ireland’s second summer test against the world-champion Springboks.
Gaelic games, which were grouped together in the survey, topped the poll as Ireland’s favourite sport on 20%. Were those sports to be separated, soccer would be seen as the general public’s favourite sport with an 18% share in its own right.
Rugby was third on 15%, with tennis and golf next up on 5% each. Athletics dropped one spot from 2023 to sixth, taking 4% of the vote alongside horse racing and motorsport.
Peering ahead to 2025, the sporting event that the nation is most looking forward to is, by a significant margin, the men’s Six Nations (30%), in which Ireland will seek a three-peat as the reigning back-to-back champions.
The second most anticipated event of 2025 is the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (15%), followed closely by its football equivalent (12%).
The TSSI also determined that one in five of all adults volunteered at a sporting club or in a sports initiative in 2024, with the average amount of time spent volunteering being just under nine hours per month.
The highest rate of sports volunteering occurs among 35- to 44-year-olds, of whom almost one in four (24%) volunteered over the calendar year.
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Athletics Boxing other sports the people's vote