Galway’s two top athletes Olive Loughnane and Paul Hession head to the World Track and Field Championships in Berlin next week as part of the Athletics Ireland team.
Both athletes have been in excellent form and hugely consistent over the last year and are part of a 14-member team that is this regarded as one of the most experienced from Ireland in recent years.
Loughnane’s most recent performance was at the Woodie’s DIY Senior Track & Field Championships of Ireland when she demolished the opposition in the 5,000m walk. The seventh place finisher at last year’s Olympic Games was the unbackable favourite in this event and she lived up to her billing with a dominant display which led her to the gold medal with a massive three-minute winning margin. Her winning time of 21:03.45 represents a personal best. Earlier this year she took fourth at the European Cup of Race walking in France and had a commanding victory over Olympic bronze medallist Elisa Rigaudo at the Dublin Grand Prix of race Walking in June.
The Loughrea AC star will compete on the very first day of the World Champs (August 15 ) in her specialist 20km event.
Paul Hession of Athenry AC had less to be cheerful about in Santry. Competing in the 100m, an event in which he holds the Irish record of 10.18, he won his heat comfortably on Sunday morning. However, having picked up a head cold overnight, he opted not to take any further part in the weekend’s action.
The Athenry clubman, who came so close to an Olympic final last year, will be aiming to crack the world stage in Berlin and make the final in the 200m alongside Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay.
Meanwhile Sean Breathnach of Galway City Harriers was also among the Galway athletes at the national champs. Despite a season hampered by illness, he stepped onto the podium again this year with a highly creditable silver medal in the shot putt event which he won last year. His best throw on the day was a little below his best at 15.18, but was still comfortably clear of the bronze medal finisher. He also collected the bronze medal in the 56lbs for height with a throw of 3.70, along with fourth in the 56lbs for distance and eighth in the discus.
Martina McCarthy, former national junior record holder over 400m, and a member of the Irish 4x400m relay team at the Sydney Olympics at just 18 years of age, made a welcome return to competition after several injury affected years. Competing in the 800m, which was surely the most competitive race of the weekend, and in the colours of Athenry AC, Martina clocked 2:11.0 in the final for seventh place.
Laura Shaughnessy of Loughrea AC, who is regarded is a real future prospect in the distance events, emjoyed a comfortable win in the junior ladies 3000m. Her gold medal performance was clocked at 10:23.94, short of her personal best, but good enough for the national title. Caroline Clancy, also of Loughrea AC, equalled her personal best of 4:47 when finishing 13th in a start-studded ladies’ 1500m final. Sarah Finnegan of Craughwell AC put in a strong series of jumps when finishing fifth in the women’s triple jump with a best of 9.95.
Elsewhere over the weekend Leona McGuire of Galway City Harriers was Galway’s sole representative on the Irish u-18 team which competed at the Celtic Games in Carmarthen, Wales. Competing in the 200m and the 4x100m relay, McGuire made a big contribution to the Irish team victory over Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. She finished fourth in the 200m in 26.67 and was a gold medal winner on the victorious Irish 4x100m relay team.
