Katie Taylor: No Respect

From ‘Gaelick’:

And people thought the BBC’s Sports Person of the Year shortlist was bad?

Katie Taylor has been shortlisted for the Irish Sports Council/RTÉ Sports Person of the Year Awards in 2011, 2010, 2008, 2007.

This morning the 2011 winner was announced, and once again Taylor – undisputedly Ireland’s greatest athlete ever – has been overlooked. This is not a first for RTÉ, which seems to pride itself on almost invariably ignoring Taylor.

The only woman to ever have won the award was Sonia O’Sullivan in 2000.

These are just some – some – of Katie Taylor’s achievements:

  • She has won every European Amateur Championship title since 2005.
  • She has won every EU Amateur Championship title since 2008.
  • She has won every World Amateur Championship title (held biennially) since 2006.
  • In 2009, she had won 60 out of 61 bouts.
  • In 2010, with her third successive world title at the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships, she saw her 100th career win.

Katie Taylor has probably had more wins in her sporting career than each of the previous RTÉ Sports Persons of the Year combined.

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FAIL: RTÉ Sports Person of the Year Awards (Gaelick)

Thanks Nuala C
(Pic: Guardian)

56 thoughts on “Katie Taylor: No Respect”

  1. Yep. I can never understand this. She is a superb athlete. Dedicated, professional attitude even though an amateur and a wonderful modest respectful personality. I have loads of respect for her despite not being a fan of boxing in general. In fact, if anything, she would make me rethink my negative views of boxing.

  2. I agree she should have won the award. There is something quite nasty about this I agree, and it smacks of discrimination and a rather snotty disregard for physical contact sports.

    On principle, given its role as the celtic tiger social lubricant of choice of dim bankers and builders, golf should not even be considered a valid sport anymore.

  3. I do believe they are kind of keeping it warm for her next year – which is sad because should she, for whatever reason, fail to win gold then it will undermine her achievements thus far.
    Katie is one of the most accomplished Irish sports personalities of all time and it is a bit of an insult – though expected – that McIlroy was given this. He didn’t need it and didn’t attend – but you wonder will he make it for the Beeb’s one next week?
    But this is nothing new from RTE. They do not show any of her fights when she’s conquering all around her year in, year out, and even this year Sky Sports stepped in to sponsor her ahead of the Olympics. Indeed the whole sport of boxing is ignored in Montrose, amateur and professional. Yet there are few we are as good at and there is no one out there operating at the level Katie is in her chosen sport.

  6. Well of course she didn’t win, she wasn’t playing one of the three sanctioned womens’ sports.

    Also the mammies out in D4 wouldn’t want to give their daughters a bad example (My Sneachta and Uaigneas in a boxing ring – the very thought)

    Maybe next year she could have a go at running instead – that’s a nice sport for a girl to play.

      • I’m not being totally serious,

        unless you are aware that I’m not being totally serious, in which case….

        I’m totally serious

      • Sadly, it’s not that sarcastic. Outside of the big five, there’s almost no coverage of minority sports in RTE, despite Irish sportspeople doing incredibly well in them.

        How many people heard on RTE when Ireland won the Gold medal in the World Championships in Olympic Shotgun the first time? Or when an Irish shotgun shooter won the Silver in the World Championships again a few years later? How many have seen Irish archers get coverage on RTE? Or seen the Judo team get followed through their training?

        In fact, how many have seen our national broadcaster cover any Irish athletes in any one of the hundreds of other so-called “Minority” sports (which outside of this backward little country are actually the largest sports in the world, while sports like GAA are basically quaint things that the rest of the world sees in a similar way to tiddlywinks)?

        • Olympic Shotgun (actually called shooting) is one of the largest sports in the world? In what country – North Korea? That is a minority sport even when the olympics are held. In fact how is shooting a gun even a sport?

          • Good God. Shooting’s been a sport since someone stuck gunpowder at the end of a stick and blew it up. It’s one of lots of sports that thrive happily away all over the country and all over the world with minimal coverage from television because they’re activities people prefer to do than to watch. I’m not even sure the participants WANT coverage. Friggin’ soccer is pumped through every channel exhaustively and monotonously, glorifying the biggest, rowdiest most tedious bunch of nerds in the world, to such an extent that people think THAT’S what a sport’s supposed to look like. I may be ranting now.

          • It’s the largest sport by participation in most countries in the world. And if you think events where you are hitting a target 0.8mm across from 10 metres away without any form of telescopic sights (or 10mm at 50 metres, or an 11cm target doing over 100kph) is somehow not a sport, then you’re taking the mickey.

  7. Ireland have had successful male amateur boxers for years and these only get noticed when they win Olympic medals so it will be the same for Katie. Yes, she is very dominant in her sport but just how many competitive female boxers are actually out there and how many of them are in her weight category. She’s a big fish in a very small pond.

  10. I think this is over-sensitive.

    Katie is clearly the country’s most accomplished and dominant Irish sportswoman on an international stage.

    However she’s also been successful at a time when Ireland has enjoyed enormous success in sports which have a much higher profile here and abroad (notably rugby and golf) than amateur boxing, not to mention the GAA and horse racing industries, and the all-pervading presence of soccer.

    So she has been nominated on numerous occasions, correctly. If she was to win, given her own standards, a world championship winning year like 2010 or 2008 would have been more appropriate than this year. But she was up against Graeme McDowell in 2010, who was the first European to win a US Open in 40 years, and was central to the European Ryder Cup win. In 2008, Harrington had it, winning two majors in a row.

    There’s also little doubt that 2012 is set up to be the year of Katie. She could be the victim of a bad judging decision at the Olympics, and miss out. But even Sonia was an unlucky loser in 2000 when, as mentioned, she won the Sports Person of the Year award.

  12. “undisputably Ireland’s greatest ever athlete ever” -

    what absolute bullshit.

    She’s very good at what she does; undoubtedly one of the best, but it’s a fairly small field now in fairness.

  13. It is about sporting achievement – Mcllroy’s success in the US Open was in a much greater and more prestigous event than the events Taylor achieved in. Her sport is in its infancy, therefore it is realistic even fortunate that she has been consistently nominated. Hopefully she will win a medal at next years olympics. If she is not chosen after that then I think there would be a legitimate question mark over the awards. It could be worse the BBC failed to nominate a single female athlete for their awards.

    I think the post is a total overreaction, and misses the point of what sporting achievement really is in order to make a pc populist point.

  14. I’ve never understood how golf even qualifies as a sport. No athleticism required. It’s in the same category as snooker and darts. If RTE categorise these as sports then why do they leave out poker?

  15. What about Sheamus being overlooked again, the Celtic Warrior is in absolutely unstoppable form of late

  17. it’s widely known the attitude rte have towards the sports ireland actually excels in. they’re able to get the rights to air champions league and uefa league soccer etc but yet they cant show katie winning a world title live?? i get that some people haven’t much of an idea when it comes to womens boxing but i’m part of the female boxing team in ireland an have been away to major championships with katie, and for those of ye here who just say that its a very small field, that she’s just a big fish in a small pond, you couldn’t be any further from the truth. each year the amount of entries are increasing to such an extent that these major championships have to be run over the same time frame as the male competitions. if any of the women are lucky enough to reach finals at these competitions, the majority have to box on a daily basis, just like katie did at the europeans in october. katie is just an exception and just blows all the rest out of the water. clearly something which rte do not want to recognise. but how many of ye are surprised?? in general i believe there is an awful attitude towards female athletes in ireland, and the only time they get any sort of recognition is around olympics, how many female athletes actually get media?? shame on rte, and if they continue on this trend of ignoring athletes such as the irish boxers, male or female there will be a back lash.

    • I think when we talk about Katie Taylor winning world titles we should use little quotes.

      but yet they cant show katie winning a “world title” live?? i get that some people haven’t much of an idea when it comes to “womens boxing” but i’m part of the female “boxing” team in ireland an have been away to “major” “championships” with katie

      • fair enough thats your opinion, you like to think its all a bit of a joke, and its because of opinions like these in higher organisations like the sports council and rte that are holding katie back. your entitled to your own outlook on it but at least i’m just putting the flip side of the coin out there. nobody will come close to achieving what katie has ever again, and its right when it was said that a talent like that wont be truly missed and recognized until it’s gone. but for katie and the rest of us, it is no joke, we train and get trained like the lads teams and want to succeed just like they have, over the last 2 years 15 medals have been won by irish women in european and world championships, with 4 coming from katie. like you, certain people within irish boxing itself didnt want to send any of these women away as they too thought it would be a bit of a joke, that womens boxing in ireland its just a bit of a laugh. they had to eat their words when a huge haul of medals were brought back through dublin airport. if you ever get the chance to watch katie box, your lucky and should take the opportunity as the girl is such a talent. she’s not only an ambassador for womens boxing in ireland but for the world and without her hard work, the aiba president has stated before that womens boxing wouldn’t have made the olympics in 2012.

        • Well said.

          Female sport is outrageously under-funded and under-reported. Girls need encouragement and the kind of self-confidence that confidence in your own physical abilities and recognition of your acheivements can give.

          And the fact that it is under-reported and under.funded in other countries is no excuse for Ireland not to promote and encourage its own female athletes. We could lead the way instead of just being as bad as the worst of the rest.

          And Ireland is good at boxing. It would be nice to see Irish lads and lasses doing well in international competitions, instead of the lame-oh soccer boys barely scraping it through to some major tournament every dozen years or so.

          And amateur boxing is a marvellous sport, requiring skill, strength, agility, reflexes and intelligence. And no more dangerous than riding a bike. I’d love to see a bit more of it.

  18. Boxing is one of those dirty, distasteful working class sports! No surprise that it’s ignored in this way. It would remind you of the dismissive attitude, bordering on open contempt, that Robbie Keane deals with despite scoring more international goals than any other Irish, English, Scottish or Welsh player ever has. It’s a real shame for Katie – she’s an incredible athlete that has dominated those at the top of her trade in a way that no other Irish sportsperson has ever come close to. She still trains in a little gym up in Bray – they’ve been trying to get an extension so they can build a toilet and showers for years. The last I heard they were still using the toilets in a pub across the road. Compare that to the money that gets poured into equestrian sports, for example.

    • Of course if Miriam O’Callaghan were to take up boxing, or Maura Derrane, RTE would be pumping millions in it. Mind you, after Blaithnaid Ni Coffeecup they might be slightly wary. Allegedly.

  19. I think she’s great but it’s not snobbery or anything like that as to why she doesn’t win. The reality is that women’s boxing is a tiny sport which is only relatively new and that is a key reason why she’s able to dominate in such a way.

    Also worth noting that ever time I hear about her, I hear people saying she needs more recognition. She’s clearly rated as one of Ireland’s best sports persons and gets tonnes of credit for it but realistically Derbhal O’Rourke making the final next year in London and coming 8th would be a bigger achievement than the dominance of her field that Katie Taylor has achieved.

    • The point that it is a minority sport is taken. But for the sake that its not THAT minor, and we are succeeding in it rather than hoping to be competitive. why not celebrate our VICTORIES, rather than celebrate what by other standards is mediocrity and only a success by virtue of the fact that we concentrate (and rightly so imho) on our own, non-Olympic sports.

      • We do celebrate it. You won’t find any other country where women’s boxing gets such mainstream coverage.

        • mainstream coverage my hole. When she won her third world title last year it wasn’t even streamed on the RTE website, after they said it would be.

  20. “Rte never cover minority sports”
    For a f**king reason. No-one watches them.
    What’s next ? Mick McSheepshite, 18 times winner of the West Cork Road Bowling championship, gets an exclusive 22 part documentary series ?
    As for no recognition, how many other amateur athletes are heading a PR campaign for Lucozade ?
    Frankly if I see any more of her, we’ll have to get a room.
    Although given all that “My Lord is my shield” shite that’s highly unlikely.

  21. I made this point last year, in a letter which was printed in the Irish Times, I got angry replies!

    for example –
    A chara, – Emily O’Callaghan (September 21st) criticises the media for its failure to adequately report the achievements of Katie Taylor. This item of news, like any other, receives the coverage it deserves according to the level of public interest it commands. It is essential that the media does not allow itself to be bullied into devoting unmerited attention to a story solely to avoid accusations of sexism, or any other prejudice. We all have minority interests we would like to see more of in the papers, but nobody has the right to tell the media its business. Playing the equality card is nothing more than a facile and sinister ruse to give such frivolousness an air of legitimacy.

  22. My letter printed in the Irish Times is now considered ‘archives’ and I’m being asked to pay to view my own letter in full!

    Here is what I wrote in September 2010(which I retrieved from my emails) -

    Madam, – It is baffling to me why, again and again, Katie Taylor’s amazing success story is reported almost as a footnote, when we all know that, had a man reached her level of achievement, it would receive immeasurable column inches, photographs and media coverage.

    As someone who admires Ms.Taylors modesty as well as her fantastic commitment to the sport, I find it very frustrating trying to understand why a three-time world champion, whose accolades are such a boost to a nation in need of them, is under-celebrated in her own country.

    - Yours, etc,

    Emily O’ Callaghan

  23. It is a fringe sport and unimportant. If Katie Taylor wasn’t relatively good at it no one would even pretend to care.

    Also it isn’t ladylike.

  25. Katie Taylor is in my opinion a brilliant athlete. She is amateur World Champion in her weight division (there are 10 weight divisions), and has consistently dominated her division.

    Rory McIlroy is currently ranked as the 3rd best golfer, professional or amateur, in the world. At the time of the voting for the awards, he was ranked 2nd in the world.

    Katie Taylor’s achievements have been widely recognized by the Irish media and general public, to the point where she is one of our most famous sports people. She was Grand Marshal of the most recent St Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin.

    Several Irish athletes who are ranked in the top 10 in the world in their sports (e.g. Dan Martin [cycling], Joe Ward [an amateur boxer], Ray Moylette [also an amateur boxer], Paddy Barnes [also an amateur boxer], John Joe Nevin [also an amateur boxer], Darren O’Neill [also an amateur boxer], Madeleine Perry [squash]) were not even nominated.

    Have some f**king perspective people.

  26. she is a great athlete but lets face it…..womens amateur boxing is smalltime compared to mens professional golf. what rory mcilroy has achieved is phenomenal for someone his age and he is fully deserving.