Olive Loughnane

Olive Loughnane (born 14 January 1976) is an Irish retired racewalker. A four-times Olympian, she is the 2009 world gold medalist in the 20 km walk.

Olive Loughnane
Personal information
Born (1976-01-14) 14 January 1976
EducationB.Comm., 1996
Alma materUniversity College Galway
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight53 kg (117 lb)
Sport
Country Ireland
SportAthletics
Event(s)20km Race Walk
Medal record
World Championships
2009 Berlin20 km walk

Early life

Loughane was born in 1976 in County Cork, the eldest of seven children. She moved to Carrabane, County Galway, with her family when she was a child. She is a graduate of University College Galway, having obtained a B.Comm. in 1996.[1]

Sporting career

Loughnane competed at four Olympic Games (2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012) and six consecutive editions of the World Championships in Athletics. She won a gold medal at the 2009 World Championships after the disqualification of the original gold medallist for a drug offence.[2] As of December 2016, Loughnane had not received the prize money.[3]

Loughnane failed to finish the walk at the 2010 European Athletics Championships. She had a win on the 2011 World Race Walking circuit at the Dudinska Patdesiatka in March 2011.[4]

Loughnane announced her retirement in February 2013.[5]

Achievements
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing  Ireland
1999 World Race Walking Cup Mézidon-Canon, France 91st 20 km 1:48:04
2000 Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 35th 20 km 1:38:23
2001 European Race Walking Cup Dudince, Slovakia 26th 20 km 1:36:50
World Championships Edmonton, Canada 13th 20 km 1:35:24
2002 European Championships Munich, Germany 13th 20 km 1:33:08
World Race Walking Cup Torino, Italy — 20 km DNF
2003 World Championships Paris, France 12th 20 km 1:30:53
2004 Olympic Games Athens, Greece — 20 km DNF
2005 World Championships Helsinki, Finland — 20 km DQ
2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan 17th 20 km 1:36:00
2008 Olympic Games Beijing, China 7th 20 km 1:27:45
World Race Walking Cup Cheboksary, Russia 6th 20 km 1:29:17
2009 European Race Walking Cup Metz, France 4th 20 km 1:34:52
World Championships Berlin, Germany 1st 20 km 1:28:58
2010 European Championships Barcelona, Spain — 20 km DNF
2011 European Race Walking Cup Olhão, Portugal — 20 km DQ
World Championships Daegu, South Korea 16th 20 km 1:34:02
2012 World Race Walking Cup Saransk, Russia 8th 20 km 1:31:32
Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 13th 20 km 1:29:39

Sports administration

Loughnane became a member of the Sport Ireland High Performance Committee after retiring from competitive sport in 2013, and subsequently became of a member of the board of Sport Ireland.

Personal life

Loughnane currently lives in Coachford, Cork with her husband, Martin Corkery, and their three children. She currently works as a Statistician in the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

References
  1. "Sporting success". Cois Coiribe. Autumn 2016. p. 20.
  2. "Golden girl Olive Loughnane must wait for medal". RTÉ. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  3. Ellingworth, James (1 December 2016). "Clean athletes still waiting for prize money from dopers". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 14 December 2016.
  4. Juck, Alfons (2011-03-27). Toth sets 50km road world lead 3:39:46. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-03-28.
  5. The Score (2013-02-12). ‘One of Ireland’s best’: Olive Loughnane retires from athletics Archived 2013-04-12 at Archive.today. The Score. Retrieved on 2013-02-12.
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