Ailis McSweeney (born 4 October 1983) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

sprinter who specialises in 60 (indoor) and

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

. She previously held the Irish record at 100 metres, having posted a time of 11.40 s at an IAAF permit event in Liège,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Athletics career

McSweeney is affiliated with the Leevale Athletic Club in

Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city's ...

, Ireland. She won the silver medal at the 2005 Summer Universiade and Bronze in the 4x100 m Relay. She also reached the semi-finals of the 100 m at the

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, C ...

. She also competes over

60 metres 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior ath ...

and was a semi-finalist at the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships. She also finished ninth overall at the

2010 European Championships in Athletics The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Cat ...

, having missed out on a spot in the final by a one hundredth of a second. McSweeney competed in the 4x100 m relay at the same championships with

Amy Foster "Amy Foster" is a short story by Joseph Conrad written in 1901, first published in the '' Illustrated London News'' (December 1901), and collected in ''Typhoon and Other Stories'' (1903). Plot A poor emigrant from Central Europe sailing from ...

, Niamh Whelan and Claire Brady. McSweeney ran the anchor leg alongside Olympic legend

Merlene Ottey Merlene Joyce Ottey (born 10 May 1960) is a Jamaican-Slovenian former track and field sprinter. She began her career representing Jamaica in 1978, and continued to do so for 24 years, before representing Slovenia from 2002 to 2012. She is ran ...

to finish fourth, and missed out on a spot in the final by 0.03 of a second. McSweeney participated in the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships in the Women's

. In her first round heat, she finished fourth behind winner Hrystyna Stuy,

Myriam Soumaré Myriam Soumaré (born 29 October 1986) is a retired French track and field sprinter., beijing2008.cn, ret: Aug 30, 2008 She announced her retirement from athletics in February 2016. Athletics career 2008–2009 Soumaré made her Olympic debu ...

and youngster, Jodie Williams in a time of 7.38 and qualified as a fastest loser. In her semi-final, she started very strongly but ended up finishing seventh with Mariya Ryemyen winning the race in a time of 7.16,

Véronique Mang Véronique Ngo Mang (born December 15, 1984) is a track and field sprint athlete, competing internationally for France. Biography She arrived in France with her mother, brother and sister in 1995. She represented Cameroon until 2003 when she gai ...

finishing second and Hrystyna Stuy finishing third and Shane Healy coming fourth. McSweeney clocked a time of 7.34, which was not enough to advance and was 0.04 off the national record set by Anna Boyle. McSweeney missed the Irish National Championships due to injury and was unable to defend her title.

eventually took both the

100 100 or one hundred ( Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

and

200 metre The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a Sprint (running), sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run th ...

titles.

Personal life

Ailis McSweeney was born on 4 October 1983; her home town is

Carrigtwohill Carrigtwohill, officially Carrigtohill (), is a town in County Cork, Ireland with a population of 5,080 (2016). It is 12 kilometres east of Cork city. It is connected to Cork Suburban Rail and is bypassed by the N25 road. Carrigtwohill is on ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...

. McSweeney attended school at St. Aloysius' College in Carrigtwohill, where she led a 4 x 100 metres relay team that went undefeated during her time there. She went on to undergraduate study at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one ...

, finishing a BCL degree in 2004; McSweeney was selected to participate in the Law Faculty Annual Moot Court during her final year. In 2006, she studied for a

Master's Degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Globalisation at the

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) ( ga, Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a university based on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin'' in 1975, it enrolled its ...

School of Law and Government while preparing to become a solicitor. McSweeney married Dublin footballer

Bryan Cullen Bryan Cullen (born 7 April 1984) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played as a left wing-forward at senior level for the Dublin county team. Cullen announced his retirement on 9 January 2015. He stated 'I would like to extend my sincer ...

in January 2013. She currently works for A & L Goodbody in the

International Financial Services Centre The International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) is an area of central Dublin and part of the CBD established in the 1980s as an urban regeneration area and special economic zone (SEZ) on the derelict state-owned former port authority lan ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McSweeney, Ailis 1983 births Irish female sprinters Living people Sportspeople from County Cork Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Alumni of Dublin City University Universiade silver medalists for Ireland Universiade bronze medalists for Ireland Medalists at the 2005 Summer Universiade