Kürten takes tally to an amazing five

It was when, at the end of January of last year, Jessica Kürten won her third Irish Times/Vhi Healthcare award in just four months the panel of judges began to have visions of the woman from Cullybackey, Co Antrim, being our sole contender for the overall honour come the end of the year.

While that would certainly have made our task somewhat easier, our deliberations a little less fractious, it would, we reckoned, have made the big announcement just a touch predictable.

In the end our 'Jessica problem' - ie, she just wouldn't stop winning - prompted us to tweak the rules, the decision being that each sportswoman would be eligible for only one monthly award each year, but her achievements through the year would be taken into account by the judges when the decision on the overall winner was made. In shorthand it's known as 'The Jessica Rule'.

We've had multiple winners before; Katie Taylor (the boxing world champion and senior international footballer), Briege Corkery (the Cork camogie player and Gaelic footballer) and Claire Coughlan (golf) have each won two monthly awards; Madeleine Perry (squash) and Nina Carberry (horse racing) have won three.

By winning the June 2007 award, though, Kürten takes her tally to five, a record that's an indication of the levels of consistency and excellence she has reached in her sporting endeavours over the past three years.

Last year Kürten climbed to second in the world rankings, making her the highest-ranked woman in her sport, but after a relatively quiet start to 2007, when she rested her top string of horses, she dropped out of the top 10.

But any notion her competitive streak might have been on the wane was quite beautifully shredded when she embarked on a run of form in April, when she won the British Open title in Birmingham, that has lifted her back to third in the world rankings, within 101 points of the number one, Markus Fuchs of Switzerland.

The highlights of that run came in Monte Carlo at the end of June, when she won €100,000 for her victory in the Grand Prix, Castle Forbes Libertina prevailing in a three-way jump-off. By then the 37-year-old had already taken second place, on the same horse, at the Grand Prix in Cannes, winning €60,000, and partnered Quibell to top-six finishes in Cannes and Balve.

There was no let-up as the calendar turned to July, Kürten's consistency seeing her climb from fifth to third in the rankings.

In other words, she's on a roll. Thank heavens for 'The Jessica Rule'!

Monthly winners so far

January - Marie Breen (Basketball): Captained Glanmire to victory in the Superleague National Cup final against defending champions University of Limerick - scored 29 points and was named the final's 'MVP'.

February - Chloe Magee (Badminton): The Swedish-based Donegal teenager helped Ireland to the final of the Helvetia Cup and won the singles and doubles titles at the national championships.

March - Nina Carberry (Horse Racing): Two years after becoming the first woman since 1987 to win a professional race at the Cheltenham Festival Carberry did it again, winning the Sporting Index Handicap Chase on Heads Onthe Ground.

April - Emma Byrne (Soccer): Arsenal's women won every competition they entered last season, including the Uefa Cup - one of their stars was Byrne, the Republic of Ireland goalkeeper.

May - Lisa and Leona Maguire (Golf): The 12-year-old twins from Cavan shared our May award after Leona won the Hermitage Scratch Cup and Lisa reached the semi-finals of the Irish Close at Lahinch.