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Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Jessica Harrington crowned 2017 Sportswoman of the Year

The horse trainer also won the Irish Gold Cup and Punchestown Gold Cup this year.

Updated at 16.10

HORSE TRAINER JESSICA Harrington has been crowned the 2017 The Irish Times / Sport Ireland Sportswoman of the Year.

Harrington enjoyed an incredible year on the racing circuit, picking up the Irish Gold Cup and Punchestown Gold Cup along the way. She also won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in what was her first time to enter the race.

Her horse Sizing John — ridden by Robbie Power — is the first horse to win all three races in the same year.

After receiving the award on Friday, a delighted Harrington told the Irish Times:

“Everything came together this year and when it does come together, those things happen . . . You’ve got to be hopeful that it will keep going. If we weren’t hopeful we’d be no good at all.”

Harrington joins some sports figures who previously won the award, including Annalise Murphy who won it last year, and Cork dual stars Rena Buckley Briege Corkery, who shared the accolade in 2015.

The monthly winners all received their awards this afternoon and the overall winner (Harrington) was announced at the ceremony at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin.

Irish Times / Sport Ireland Sportswoman of the Year monthly winners

  • January: Gráinne Dwyer (basketball)
  • February: Paula Fitzpatrick (rugby)
  • March: Aoife Ní Chaiside (camogie)
  • April: Chloe Magee (badminton) and Jessica Harrington (horse racing)
  • May: Leona Maguire (golf)
  • June: Mona McSharry (swimming)
  • July: Gina Akpe-Moses (athletics)
  • August: Eve McCrystal & Katie-George Dunlevy (para-cycling)
  • September: Rena Buckley (camogie) and Sinead Aherne (Gaelic football)
  • October: Katie Taylor (boxing)
  • November: Katie McCabe (soccer)
  • December: Leanne Kiernan (soccer)

The42 has just published its first book, Behind The Lines, a collection of some of the year’s best sports stories. Pick up your copy in Eason’s, or order it here today (€10):

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