IRISH TIMES/IRISH SPORTS COUNCIL Sportswomen Award for January

Two World Cup Qualifier wins in a row in January, as well three more top five finishes in other competitions through the month, made Jessica Kurten an easy choice for our first Sportswoman of the Month for 2009.

Having been out of sorts before Christmas, when she failed to pick up a point from four World Cup qualifiers, Kurten began the year in sensational style, first winning the Leipzig leg of the Rolex FEI World Cup competition on Castle Forbes Libertina, before triumphing again, a week later, with the same horse in Zurich.

Those victories lifted her to seventh in the World Cup leaderboard, comfortably within sight of a qualifying spot for the final in Las Vegas in April where the world's top 18 riders will battle it out for the coveted title.

Her success has also lifted her back up to sixth in the world rankings, just 73 points short of the rider in fourth place.

The Irish Times/Irish Sports Council award is Kurten's sixth since 2004, an indication of her consistency at the very highest level of her sport.