Katie Officially Ireland’s Favourite Athlete

Have belts, will travail

t’s gotten to the point where we’re not even sure the total number of titles Katie Taylor has today…

She’s got medals June 1999

As her arm is lifted into the air by yet another referee, it’s getting harder each time to feel surprised.

This 34-year-old Bray boxer is simply unstoppable, having regained her steady climb to the top after a slight wobble at the World Amateur Championship in 2016. 

The Taylors at Madison Square Gardens 2JUN19

And now, the Teneo Sport and Sponsorship Index (TSSI) for 2020 positions Taylor as Ireland’s most popular athlete.

Not only that, but Katie also comes out on top in the Greatest Sporting Achievement category and the Most Memorable Sporting Moment of 2020. 

A 1,000-person nationally representative survey, the TSSI impose quotas across gender, region, age and social class as it examines the Irish general public’s attitude towards sport and their sporting achievements.

Taylor gained 30% of the vote when it came to Most Admired Sports Star (with Johnny Sexton next, on 6%, and Shane Lowry 3rd, with 5%), her fourth-in-a-row win in this category. When it came to topping the Most Memorable Sporting Moment, Taylor’s win over Delfine Persoon on June 1st 2019 at Madison Square Garden garnered 32% of the vote (with Sam Bennett’s Tour de France final stage getting 15% and Tipperary’s first Munster title in 85 years coming in third with 11% of the vote). That Persoon win also topped the Greatest Sporting Achievement category, with 27% of the vote, ahead of Sam Bennett with 16% and Dublin footballers sixth-in-a-row All Ireland win at no.3 with 9%.

“Katie Taylor remains undoubtedly our favourite sport star,” says Rob Pearson, a director at Teneo Ireland. “Her ongoing excellence in the ring continues to capture the imagination of the general public, and along with Dublin’s women’s footballers strong showing in the Team of The Year category [fourth place, with 12% of the vote], it proves once again the appetite for women’s sport amongst Irish people.”

You can do the Ali Shuffle through our archives here to trace Katie Taylor’s remarkable career.