The 2025 Team Ireland Olympic Sport Awards were held at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre on 6 December 2025, when Ireland’s leading athletes swapped their training kit for glad rags to mark an exceptional year in sport.
Salute to Athletes
More than 500 people attended. The Kabin Crew Cork Rap team performed, including their song “Dare to Believe”, and the evening opened with a spoken word piece by the poet Stephen James Smith, who wrote “From Torch to Tally” as a dedication to Irish Olympians.
The guest list took in the past, the present and the future of Irish Olympic sport. Ireland’s Sydney 2000 Olympians attended alongside the medallists from the 2025 European Youth Olympic Festival, and the night included a salute to the athletes then preparing for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
2025 brought results across multiple sports, through a run of global championships, Olympic qualification campaigns and standout performances on the world stage. That success was credited to the strength of the high performance systems built within the national federations, supported by Sport Ireland and delivered by coaches, support teams and federation staff around the country.
Tough Decisions
Every winner received the Olly, the Olympic Sport Award trophy, whose design is drawn from the Olympic torch. The judging panel worked alongside a strong public vote, and faced difficult decisions given the breadth and depth of performances across Irish sport that year.
The President’s Award was made posthumously to Maeve Kyle, who died in 2025. Kyle was the first woman to represent Ireland in athletics and went on to inspire and guide many of the women who followed her. IOC President Kirsty Coventry sent a message to the event acknowledging the achievements of a pioneer of Irish women’s sport.
Off the Ball was official media partner to the Team Ireland Olympic Sport Awards.
2025 TEAM IRELAND OLYMPIC SPORT AWARD WINNERS
– Female Athlete of the Year, sponsored by Allianz
Winner: Kate O’Connor (Athletics)
Runner Up: Aoife O’Rourke (Boxing), Fiona Murtagh (Rowing), Lara Gillespie (Cycling)
– Male Athlete of the Year, sponsored by Allianz
Winner: Rory McIlroy (Golf)
Runner Up: Ben Healy (Cycling), Cian McPhillips (Athletics), Fintan McCarthy (Rowing)
– Rising Star, sponsored by Sport Ireland
Winner: Eve McMahon (Sailing)
Runner Up: John Shortt (Swimming), Patsy Joyce (Boxing)
– Team of the Year, sponsored by Flogas
Winner: Fintan McCarthy & Philip Doyle (Rowing)
Runner Up: Senior Eventing Team (Equestrian), Men’s 3×3 Basketball Team
– Coach of the Year, sponsored by Key Patent Innovations
Winner: Dominic Casey (Rowing)
Runner Up: John Szaranek (Swimming), Michael O’Connor (Athletics)
– Olympic Sporting Moment of the Year, sponsored by Fiat
Winner: Kate O’Connor’s World Championships silver medal
Runner Up: Rory McIlroy’s Masters triumph; Ben Healy in the yellow jersey at the Tour de France
– High Performance Programme of the Year, sponsored by Deloitte
Winner: Cycling Ireland
Runner Up: Rowing Ireland; Swim Ireland
– Creator of the Year, sponsored by McKeever Sports
Winner: Rhys McClenaghan
Runner Up: Ayeisha McFerran & Unboxed; Daniel & Nathan Wiffen’s Vlog
– Community Impact Award, sponsored by SPAR/EUROSPAR
Winner: Inbhear Dee Athletics Club’s Noreen O’Reilly, Eithne Walsh and Anne-Marie Kelly
Runner Up: Rhys McClenaghan’s Club Tour; Cricket Connects Summer Camp
– President’s Award, presented by OFI President Lochlann Walsh
Recipient: Maeve Kyle
The 2025 Team Ireland Olympic Sport Awards celebrated not just podiums and moments, but the dedication, resilience and spirit that drive Irish athletes every day.
