First female jockey to win the Grand National nominated for prestigious award

Jockey Rachael Blackmore is in the running to win Sport Action Woman of the Year

BT Sport has announced the nominees for the eighth annual BT Sport Action Woman of the Year Award. In what has been yet another groundbreaking year for women’s sport across the board, the award celebrates six of 2021’s standout performances by British female athletes, as well as three of the UK’s Rising Stars. The exciting news for the equestrian community is that Rachael Blackmore, the winner of this year’s Grand National – and the first ever female jockey to win it, at that – is on the list.

Rachael made headlines this year with two history-making victories. The first was at Cheltenham Festival, where she became the first female jockey to partner a winner of the Champion Hurdle and, by finishing with six winners across the four days of racing, she also went on to win the Ruby Walsh Trophy for the leading Cheltenham jockey. Back in April, she put in a superb ride at the Grand National, crossing the finish line in first place on Minella Times. The Irish jockey made history, becoming the first woman ever to win.

Based on athletes’ individual achievements, a shortlist of nominees has been selected by a panel of esteemed judges including BT Sport’s Clare Balding OBE, Dame Katherine Grainger and Kate Richardson Walsh OBE. Clare Balding said: “This year has seen so many incredible achievements from Tokyo and beyond: familiar names grabbed the headlines while new faces have also been catapulted to international stardom. Being able to bring much-deserved recognition to these incredible sportswomen is why I’m so excited to work alongside BT Sport in shining a light on their stories and, in doing so, hopefully inspire the next generation of female athletes.”

The winner of the BT Sport Action Woman of the Year Award and the Rising Star award will be decided by a public vote via the website: btsport.com/actionwoman, so be sure to get your vote in for Rachel.

The winners will be announced at the BT Sport Action Woman of the Year Awards show, presented by Clare Balding and broadcast for anyone to live on BT Sport 1, online and on YouTube and Twitter from 8pm.

Laura Kenny – Cycling
2021 saw Laura become the most successful female cyclist in Olympic history, following a gold medal in the women’s Madison in Tokyo. The win also made her the first British woman to take home gold medals in three consecutive games.

Emma Raducanu – Tennis
From wildcard entry to British number one with a Grand Slam along the way, it ‘s been a year to remember for Emma Raducanu. The youngster burst onto the scene by making the fourth round at Wimbledon before taking home the US Open trophy in spectacular fashion.

Emily Campbell – Weightlifting
Not only did Emily take home gold at the European games in Moscow towards the start of the year, but the 26-year-old also became Britain’s first ever female Olympic weightlifting medalist, claiming silver in Tokyo.

Rachael Blackmore – Horse racing
Rachael Blackmore sent records tumbling in 2021 as she became the first woman to win the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and the first to finish as top jockey, with six winners in all. She then rode Minella Times to victory at Aintree to become the first female jockey to win the Grand National.

Dame Sarah Storey – Cycling
A whopping 17^th gold medal of a long and illustrious career saw the cycling legend become GB’s most successful Paralympian of all time, having taken home 28 medals across eight Paralympic Games.

Kadeena Cox – Athletics
Kadeena successfully defended her Olympic time trial with a world-record-setting final run and finished just outside the medals in the T38 400m to round off a hugely impressive multisport display.

For more information about the awards and to cast your vote, visit btsport.com/actionwoman