2007 Texaco Sportstars of the Year Awards recipients announced
DUBLIN, IRELAND 4 DECEMBER 2007 –The ten top Irish sports stars who have been chosen to receive the 2007 Texaco Sportstars Awards on this, the 50th Anniversary of the Awards, have been announced. Chosen from a shortlist of twenty sports by sports editors representing print and broadcast media, north and south, the full line-up of this year’s Texaco award winners is:
| David Gillick | Athletics |
| Katie Taylor | Boxing |
| Trent Johnston | Cricket |
| Marc Ó Sé | Gaelic Football |
| Pádraig Harrington | Golf |
| Aidan O'Brien | Horse racing |
| Dan Shanahan | Hurling |
| Angela Walsh | Ladies Gaelic football |
| Brian O’Driscoll | Rugby |
| Richard Dunne | Soccer |
Two additional awards will be presented to the Texaco Sportstars Hall of Fame and Special Achievement Award winners, both of whose names will be announced shortly.
Of the ten stars who will receive awards, six are being honoured for the very first time. They are Katie Taylor, Trent Johnston, Marc Ó Sé, Dan Shanahan, Angela Walsh and Richard Dunne. Also notable is the fact that Katie Taylor becomes the first female boxer to receive an award in the 50 years history of the Texaco event.
Commenting, Chevron Country Chairman, Enda Riney, praised the very high calibre of this year’s winners whose performances have brought honour to themselves, their team mates, their communities and their country. “We are proud to honour the achievements of such an excellent group of Irish sports men and women and to welcome them into the role of winners whose achievements are written in the 50 years history of the Texaco Sportstars Awards” he said.
The 50th Texaco Sportstars Awards will be presented by An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern TD at an awards ceremony which takes place in Dublin later this month.
Chevron Corporation is one of the world’s leading integrated energy companies. We have approximately 58,000 employees, and our subsidiaries conduct business in more than 180 countries. We operate across the entire energy spectrum — producing and transporting crude oil and natural gas; refining, marketing and distributing fuels and other energy products and services; manufacturing and selling petrochemical products; generating power; and developing and commercializing the energy resources of the future, including biofuels and other renewables. Chevron is based in San Ramon, Calif. More information about Chevron is available at www.chevron.com.
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Notes to editors
1) There are approximately 230 Texaco-branded service stations in Ireland and more than 1,300 across Europe. Chevron (Ireland) Limited also provides aviation refueling services at Dublin and Shannon Airports, has an extensive commercial and industrial fuels and lubricants business and holds an equity stake in four fuel storage facilities in the Republic of Ireland. For more information, visit www.texaco.ie
2) For further information on this award, contact Don Hall, Hall PR on 01 660 9377 or email don@hall.ie. For more information on Chevron (Ireland) Ltd, contact Daniel Schraibman on 0044 207 719 4459 or email danielschraibman@chevron.com
The 50th Texaco Sportstars Awards winners
Athletics: David Gillick
In Athletics, the award goes to Dubliner David Gillick. After a disappointing run in the semi-final of the European Championships in Gothenburg last year, the 400 metre runner moved to Loughborough to train with a new coach, Nick Dakin, and a specialist 400 metres group that included European Junior silver medallist Martyn Rooney and Jamaican hurdler Kemel Thompson, ranked sixth in the world. Early this year, he ran 45.91 in Dusseldorf, becoming world leader over 400 metres indoors at that time. In March he went to the European Championships in Birmingham where he won the final in a sensational 45.52. In August, he went to the World Championships in Osaka where he ran the second and third fastest times of his career to get through to the semi-finals.
Boxing: Katie Taylor
In Boxing, the award goes to Katie Taylor. A world champion, two months ago the Bray, Co Wicklow boxer won her third European title. Fighting at lightweight and weighing in at 60 kilograms, she is so far ahead of the opposition that she can be considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. In her four fights in Denmark where she won the European crown, she conceded only four points while amassing a total of 49, an astonishing achievement. In the final, she led 8-0 after the first round, and when the referee stopped the fight midway through the second round, Katie led 15-0, a margin that brought the contest to an automatic conclusion.
Cricket: Trent Johnston
In Cricket, the award goes to Trent Johnston. He moved from Australia to Dublin in 2004 to chase the opportunity of playing in a Cricket World Cup. His dreams were more than realised in March as Ireland shook the cricketing world with their performances in the Caribbean. Trent and his team earned a draw against Zimbabwe before their stunning defeat of cricketing superpower Pakistan in Jamaica. This guaranteed another six games in the competition and Ireland went on to claim another victory in beating Bangladesh. He went on to captain Ireland as they retained their Intercontinental Cup title and finished the year as the tenth ranked team in the world.
Gaelic Football: Marc Ó Sé
In Gaelic Football, the award goes to Kerry footballer Marc Ó Sé. After the championship concluded in September, people began to reflect on the year and increasingly, it became evident that the impeccable standards of one player, throughout the league season, throughout the championship, were almost faultless. That person is the youngest of the three Ó Sé brothers from Ceann Tra in Dingle. Marc is a classical man-marker with quick feet, balance, pace and a tendency not to foul the man. He is also very comfortable on the ball.
Golf: Padraig Harrington
In Golf, the award goes to Padraig Harrington. In July, the golfing world officially acknowledged his elevation to that rarefied world peopled by major champions. Two months earlier, he won the Irish Open, winning a play-off against Bradley Dredge at Adare Manor. But those moments of anxiety pale considerably compared to when Padraig negotiated the 72nd hole at Carnoustie with a mix of impending doom followed by courageous shot-making. And then we looked on with him as Sergio Garcia almost imploded after a championship-winning putt agonisingly stayed out. With the blood once again coursing through the nation's veins, we walked tall with our favourite golfing son as he played impeccably through the tie holes to push Fred Daly's success of 1947 a little further into the mists of history.
Horse Racing: Aidan O'Brien
In Horse Racing, the award goes to trainer Aidan O'Brien. Aidan has been setting the standard in Europe for many seasons and is continually raising the bar. 2007 brought major victories and great excitement. With 18 winners in England this year, Aidan managed to muster the UK trainers' championship with a cushion of almost £1m over his nearest rival, Sir Michael Stoute. By comparison, Stoute clocked a total of 111 winners. It goes without saying that the domestic title fell to the Master of Ballydoyle, whilst victories in the French Guineas at the start of the season followed by his first ever Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe with Dylan Thomas book-ended a steadily indelible influence on the French scene.
Hurling: Dan Shanahan
In Hurling, the award goes to Waterford hurler Dan Shanahan. Shanahan enjoyed an outstanding season, scoring a whopping 8-13 in just five championship games. He opened up with a 2-1 salvo against Cork and then, on July 8, wrote his name into the history books once again by firing home 3-3 in the Munster final against Limerick. Shanahan registered all three goals during a lightning second-half blitzkrieg and he rubber-stamped his reputation as the modern game's great goal-getter by subsequently firing 1-3 against Cork in the All-Ireland quarter-final and then 2-1 in the replayed game.
Ladies Gaelic Football: Angela Walsh
In Ladies Gaelic Football, the award goes to Cork player Angela Walsh. Although only 22, it's not surprising that Angela Walsh has three All Ireland senior football medals. She was selected for the seniors in 2004. Cork's first Munster title was won that year, and the last three has seen them crowned All Ireland champions each September. Full back in a defence that has been extremely parsimonious in this year's championship, Angela was outstanding in big wins over Dublin and Laois and, in a much closer final against Mayo, showed true class to guide the Rebels to victory.
Rugby: Brian O’Driscoll
In Rugby, the award goes to Leinster and Irish international Brian O’Driscoll. During a hugely disappointing World Cup, Brian O'Driscoll spoke about the need for players to attend to their own games and that the collective would follow. He certainly took his own words to heart, scoring Ireland's first try in France in the game against Namibia. In the do-or-die battles against France and Argentina, he broached the standards he expects of himself, particular in the Argentina game when he scored one try, his 31st for his country, and made the other. During the Six Nations he missed one match, against France, and it was the only one that Ireland lost. He has guided his province, Leinster, and country, with distinction in the last 12 months and while the results in France will have been bitterly disappointing, he led by deed as well as by word.
Soccer: Richard Dunne
In Soccer, the award goes to Republic of Ireland international Richard Dunne. At 28, the defender is revelling in the growing levels of trust placed in him and has developed into the leader both Manchester City and Ireland craved during a turbulent year for both. While many would have disappeared off the radar after early difficulties in their career, Dunne has matured into a fine professional and his hard work is now reaping its rewards with performances brimming with consistency and commitment. One of Ireland's brightest stars, Dunne is just one cap short of reaching 40 appearances for his country.
