Sportswoman of the Month: Most sports men and women, you'd imagine, would be reasonably content with one world title in a lifetime, but Margaret Johnston is a little more greedy. She has, in fact, an insatiable appetite for winning major honours, and then winning them again.
But even by the Bellaghy woman's standards this year has been remarkable, culminating in her winning two world bowls singles titles in just nine weeks, the second being the World Champion of Champions title in Australia last month.
For that achievement Johnston is our undisputed Irish Times/Mitsubishi Electric Sportswoman for November, another honour for her bulging collection, which now includes her third Texaco Award, won last month.
The year began with Johnston, who has two world indoor singles titles, two Commonwealth gold medals and three World Pairs titles with Phyllis Nolan to her name, winning her eighth Irish title.
It was in September, though, that the 61-year-old made history when she became the first player to win the women's world singles championship three times, beating South Africa's Lorna Trigwell in the final at Leamington Spa.
She made history again in November when, as Irish champion, she accepted an invitation to compete in the World Champion of Champions tournament in Warilla, Australia, in which 27 countries entered their best male and female players.
After a shaky start ("the heat was a wee bit much") Johnston just about made it in to the quarter-finals, but from there found her form. She dealt easily with the challenge of local favourite Edith Grinham in the last eight, winning 12-3, 9-5, before meeting Trigwell again in the semi-finals.
She won the first set, 7-6, and after Trigwell fought back to level the contest, Johnston prevailed, winning a three-end tie-breaker over two ends.
She needed to be plucky, too, in the final after a storming start by Scotland's Karen Dawson, who had beaten Johnston in the British Isles Championships earlier in the summer.
Dawson shot to a 6-0 lead after just three ends of the first set, eventually winning it 9-8, but Johnston recovered to take the second set 8-5 before again winning the first two ends of a tie-breaker to take the match.
In doing so she became the first person to hold the World Bowls singles and the World Champion of Champions titles at the same time.
With Bangor, Co Down, due to stage the Atlantic Rim Games (in which 18 countries will enter teams of five women) next August, and with the Commonwealth Games scheduled for Melbourne the following summer, Johnston has shelved any retirement plans she may have had. Her appetite for honours hasn't been sated.
Johnston, then, is our 11th award winner of the year, joining three runners and sportswomen from basketball, hockey, Gaelic football, golf, equestrian sport, camogie and horse-racing in the list. After choosing the winner for December, the Sportswoman of the Year will be named in January from the monthly winners.
