Murray Wins 2016 Irish Sailor Of The Year Award

Annalise Murphy did her country proud when she won the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Ireland has now honored her for the achievement by giving her the 2016 Irish Sailor of the Year Award. Murphy received the award at a stunning event held at the RDS Concert Hall in Dublin on 27 January 2017. The prize was presented to her by the President of the Irish Sailing Association (ISA) David Lovegrove.

The event was held with great pomp and saw the largest turnout of 300 fellow sailors in the Irish sailing history. Murphy was saluted by these 300 odd sailors for her tremendous achievement that she mustered at the 2016 Rio Olympics. This is the best achievement that Ireland has got into the Olympics in the sailing event since James Wilkinson and David Wilkinson got the in the Flying Dutchman silver way back in 1980 at the Moscow Olympics.

The achievement by Annalise Murphy in Rio was well appreciated. She was heartbroken for missing the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics. The Rio Olympics silver medal would not have been possible if she did not put the extra effort in training and practice after her poor showing at the 2016 Worlds in Mexico. This event was just 10 weeks before the Olympics in Rio.

After receiving the prize, Murphy said that she knew very early in her life that she was not super talented, but always believed in hard work. She advises sailors to put a lot of hard work into their sailing and they can see good results like what she has achieved. She said that the standing ovation given to her by the ISA meant a lot to her and this will drive her to do more hard work and prepare for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.