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 (age 48)
EducationB.Comm., 1996
Alma materUniversity College Galway
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight53 kg (117 lb)
Sport
Country Ireland
SportAthletics
Event20km Race Walk
Medal record
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 Berlin 20 km walk

Early life

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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

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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

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Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
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

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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

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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).[citation needed]

References

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  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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