Katie-George Dunlevy and Róisín Ní Riain have both been nominated for the 2024 RTÉ Sportsperson of the Year Awards after their standout performances at the Paralympic Games this summer. The pair brought home five of Team Ireland’s six medals.
Dunlevy secured a gold medal in the women’s B individual time trial and two silver medals: one in the women’s B 3000m individual pursuit and the other in the women’s B individual road race. These achievements add to her legacy as one of Ireland’s most decorated Paralympians, bringing her career total to eight Paralympic medals (4 gold, 4 silver).
She then delivered outstanding performances with her pilot, Linda Kelly at the 2024 UCI Para-Cycling Road World Championships in Zurich, securing two gold medals. The pair dominated the Women’s B Time Trial, finishing almost a minute ahead of their closest rivals from Great Britain. They followed up this success by winning the Women’s B Road Race, completing the 84.7km course in 2:22:46, again beating the silver medallists by over a minute.
Ní Riain claimed five medals (two gold, three silver, and one bronze) at the 2024 European Championships in Madeira in April this year.
After reaching five finals at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo 2020, Ní Riain had her breakthrough Games in Paris this summer. She won her first and Team Ireland’s first medal of the Games claiming sliver in her S13 100m backstroke final. She then went on to win her second medal with a third-place finish in the SM13 200m individual medley final with a stunning last 50 metres to snatch bronze and set a new personal best of 2:27.47 in the process, erasing almost two seconds of her previous PB of 2:29.11.
Dunlevy and Ní Riain are among 12 nominees, which include Paris 2024 gold medallists Rhys McClenaghan, Daniel Wiffen, Kellie Harrington, and Paul O’Donovan, alongside Katie Taylor, Paul Townend, Anthony Cacace, Shane O’Donnell, Rhasidat Adeleke, and Ciara Mageean.
In 2023 Róisín was nominated in the Sportsperson of the Year and Young Sportsperson of the year categories. Dunlevy and her pilot Linda Kelly were nominated for RTÉ Sport Team of the Year.
Joanne Cantwell, Darragh Maloney and Jacqui Hurley will present the awards ceremony from Studio 4 in RTÉ on Sunday, 15 December, with the action broadcast live on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player from 9.30pm.
