The Texaco awards have become the benchmark for celebrating and acknowledging the achievements of Irish sports stars. Below are the eight individuals honoured in 2008
GOLF
Pádraig Harrington
In one of the most successful years in recent decades for Irish sport internationally, Pádraig Harrington's achievements were still head and shoulders above everybody else.
Back-to-back tournament victories are extremely rare in Europe or the US but to put together successive major wins in July and August on the two continents elevated the Dubliner to a new level in world sport.
Having captured the 2007 British Open in heart-stopping style at Carnoustie, Harrington's defence of his title at Birkdale was in jeopardy up until the opening day because of a wrist injury.
However, the injury seemed to act as a welcome distraction and he put together an almost flawless tournament, overcoming a two-shot deficit to Greg Norman on the final day to become the first European golfer since James Braid in 1906 to retain the famous Claret Jug.
Less than a month later, Harrington picked up the third major of his career after shooting closing rounds of 66 on the Saturday and Sunday at Oakland Hills to deny Sergio Garcia revenge for his play-off defeat at Birkdale a year earlier.
In winning the USPGA, Harrington became the first European to claim the title since 1930.
GAELIC FOOTBALL
Seán Cavanagh
If Padraig Harrington was peerless in golf this year, few would argue that Seán Cavanagh (25) was not a similar force in Gaelic football. The Tyrone midfielder was the dominant figure in his county's march to their third All-Ireland title, combining brilliant fielding with an ability to take vital scores. Despite losing early on in the Ulster championship to Down, Mickey Harte's team regrouped and slowly built up their All-Ireland campaign.
Considered 3 to 1 outsiders against Dublin in the All-Ireland quarter-final, Cavanagh and captain Brian Dooher led by example and destroyed the highly-rated capital side. Although that performance was of the highest order, Cavanagh and Tyrone surpassed it in the final against Kerry when they took the accolade of team of the decade with a terrific performance. Cavanagh's contribution that day was immense and was reflected on the scoreboard with five points from play. He subsequently captained Ireland to victory in the international series against Australia and also picked up his fourth All Star award.
HORSE RACING
Aidan O'Brien
Aidan O'Brien dominance of flat racing continued throughout 2008 with a string of winners in some of the world's top races. The Coolmore trainer, who has picked up Classic winners all over Europe in his illustrious career, enjoyed so much success in the first 10 months of the year that he seemed set at one point to overtake the world record of 25 Group One winners in a year. However, his tally of 22 Group One winners to date is phenomenal even by his high standards.
Henrythenavigator was one of O'Brien's top charges, picking up the 2,000 Guineas double at Newmarket and the Curragh before gong on to win the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood.
Duke of Marmalade was also a multiple winner, with victory in the King George at Ascot the highlight of his year.
O'Brien completed the Irish Oaks and Derby double with Frozen Fire and Moonstone while Yeats and Halfway to Heaven completed a rare clean sweep of the 2008 domestic Classics.
BOXING
Kenny Egan
Kenny Egan became an instant hero to the Irish public in August when he won a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics. Although twice a winner of the light-heavyweight title at the national championships between 2005-2007, Egan went to the Olympics still relatively unknown outside the sport of boxing.
The displays by Egan and his medal-winning team-mates Paddy Barnes and Darren Sutherland in Bejing totally vindicated the Irish Sports Council's investment in the sport over the previous years. A winner of bronze medal at the 2006 European Championships in Bulgaria, Egan did not qualify for Beijing until April when he came through one of the final qualifying tournaments in Greece.
The Neilstown southpaw was a convincing winner of his early bouts in Beijing, claiming his opening victory by a margin of 22-2.
Having beat Brazilian Washington Silva 8-0 in the quarter-final, Egan faced Britain's Tony Jeffries for a place in the Olympic final.
In an outstanding performance Egan beat Jeffries 10-3 and then came up just short in the final against China's Xiaoping Zhang.
HURLING
Eoin Larkin
The path of the James Stephens marksman from the minor ranks to hurler of the year has been less smooth than the previously more feted team-mates in Kilkenny's three-in-a-row winning outfit. Larkin was only good enough to make the bench on the 2002 All-Ireland-winning minor side and started just one year at under-21. However, his impact at centre forward and free-taking for The Village during the 2004 and 2005 club campaigns catapulted him into Brian Cody's starting six forwards.
Private Larkin, of the Third Battalion, really came into his own this season, physically more imposing on return from a six-month UN tour of duty in Kosovo, enabling him to win more ball across the half-forward line and he duly registered 1-13 in four championship matches. But the 24-year-old stand-out-moment of 2008 must be the decisive goal he rifled home against Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final.
RUGBY
Ronan O'Gara
A multiple award winner this year in recognition of his immense contribution to Munster's second Heineken Cup triumph last May when they beat Toulouse 16-13 in the Millennium Stadium, Ronan O'Gara was the mainstay of Munster's challenge both from play and the placed ball.
His performances, particularly in the European clashes with Wasps and Llanelli, helped the Irish province to a brilliant triumph that culminated in a win over the three time European champions Toulouse, O'Gara recording a personal tally of 11 points in Cardiff.
His season can not alone be defined by statistics but he is just 21 points shy of passing the 1,000 mark in the Heineken Cup and stands seventh is the list of the all-time points scorers in Test rugby.
The Six Nations Championship would have been disappointing from an Irish perspective but the Corkman didn't allow it to affect his subsequent displays for Munster.
Already this season the Irish province has taken a major step towards the play-offs of this season's competition with O'Gara once again at the helm.
WOMEN'S GAA
Briege Corkery
In another year of Cork superiority in camogie and women's Gaelic football, Briege Corkery was the link between both sides. Still only 21, Corkery picked up her third All-Ireland camogie winner's medal when she gave a brilliant display in her county's 2-10 to 1-08 win over Galway in the final. The defender was singled out by manager Denise Cronin for her contribution, saying "she got to know every blade of grass by name".
Two weeks later, Corkery returned to Croke Park as a key member of the Cork women's football team as they attempted to complete the double.
Again, she made a huge contribution in Cork's 4-13 to 0-11 win over Monaghan. The two-week break for Corkery between the two finals was something a luxury for the 2005 Sportswoman of the Year. She played in the All-Ireland semi-finals in both codes over 24 hours.
ATHLETICS
Jason Smyth
Some say there is no greater success at the Olympics than winning a sprint double in world record time. Just ask Jason Smyth, or, of course, Usain Bolt. When Smyth succeeded in winning such a double at the Paralympics in Beijing last September there were inevitable comparisons with Jamaica's "Lightning" Bolt, and for good reason.
The 21-year-old from Derry, who was competing in his first Paralympics, won both the 100 and 200 metres in the visually impaired category - and on both occasions by a stunning margin, and with a stunning world record.
First up was his 100 metre victory in 10.62 seconds - which was in fact his second world record of the day as it broke the 10.81 second mark he set in the qualifying heats earlier that morning.
So to the 200 metres, where despite some concerns about a hamstring strain, Smyth delivered one of the performances of the entire Paralympics, when in front of a sell-out 91,000 spectators, he completed his double with another world record time, 21.43 seconds, remarkably destroying the mark he set in qualifying by a massive 0.38 of a second.
