Derval O'Rourke (born 28 May 1981) is an Irish former sprint

hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

athlete. She competed internationally in the 60 and

100 metres hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first hurdle is p ...

, and is the Irish national record holder in both events. She participated in two Indoor World Championships, five Outdoor World Championships and the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, 2008, and

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Early life and education

Born in Cork, O'Rourke attended

University College, Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 students ...

(UCD) where she held a sports scholarship between 2000 and 2004. She graduated with a BA (Hons) degree from the college in 2003 and a Diploma in Business Studies from the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business in 2005.

Competition

Derval first broke 13 seconds when she finished 4th at the 2003 European Under 23 Athletics Championships in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...

, Poland, running a national record of 12.96 seconds, missing out on a medal by just 0.01 seconds. This mark saw her achieve the exact 'A standard' qualification time for the 2004 Olympics. Also in 2003, she competed at her first World Athletics Championships in Paris before racing at her first Olympic Games in Athens, on both occasions failing to make it past the heats. In 2005 O'Rourke reached the semi-finals of the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in Helsinki. One week later, O'Rourke won the Bronze medal in the 100 m Hurdles at the World University Games in Izmir, Turkey in a time of 13.02 seconds. O'Rourke was also part of the Irish 4 × 100 m Relay team that won Bronze. At the

2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 11th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) was held in Moscow from March 10 to March 12, 2006 in the Olimpiyski Sport arena. The announcement by the IA ...

O'Rourke won the gold medal in the 60 m hurdles, becoming the first Irish woman to win an indoor world athletics championship. On her way to winning she broke the Irish national record twice and her winning time was 7.84 s. O'Rourke had a successful 2006 outdoor track season after missing the initial part of the season due to injury. In the run up to the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

, O'Rourke lowered her Irish national record for the 100 m hurdles twice and had a personal best of 12.85 s before the championships. In the

2006 European Championships in Athletics The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit". Gothenburg also hosted the 1995 World Champions ...

, O'Rourke finished joint second with Kirsten Bolm and behind Swedish athlete and favourite, Susanna Kallur in a time of 12.72, a new national record. Later in the same championship O'Rourke ran the first leg for the Irish 4 x 100 m relay team which included Joanne Cuddihy, Ailis McSweeney, and Anna Boyle which set a new national record of 44.38 s. The 2007 season proved less successful for O'Rourke. She did not participate in competition during the indoor season. She did however travel to

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, Japan for the

and qualified for the semi-finals but finished eighth. She ended the 2007 season with a best of 12.88 set in Bochum 2008 was also a poor season for O'Rourke. She did not compete at the World Indoor Championships, where she was the defending champion. Lolo Jones went on to win the championships and O'Rourke ended the indoor season with a best of 8.09 set in Peanía. O'Rourke competed for Ireland in the Women's 100-metre hurdles at the 2008

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

held in Beijing, China: she failed to qualify from her heat, finishing sixth in a time of 13.22 s. O'Rourke showed a return to form in 2009, highlighted by her capturing of the bronze medal in the 60 m hurdles at the 2009 European Indoor Championships in Turin, Italy in a time of 7.97 s. On 18 August 2009, O'Rourke qualified from her 100m hurdles quarter-final at the

, coming in 2nd place in Heat 3 in a time of 12.86, a season's best. A time of 12.73 when finishing 3rd in her semi-final was good enough to qualify her for the World Championship final as a fastest loser. In the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

on 19 August 2009, O'Rourke finished 4th behind winner Brigitte Foster-Hylton, Priscilla Lopes-Schliep and Delloreen Ennis-London, with a time of 12.67 setting a new national record and the fastest time by a European in 2009. She was quoted afterwards as being "gutted not to have won a medal" but "It's a new national record, fourth in the world. I can't really complain." O'Rourke chose not to compete in the

2010 World Indoor Championships in Athletics The 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was held between 12 and 14 March at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar. The championships was the first of six IAAF World Athletics Series events to take place in 2010. Bidding and organisation T ...

due to minor injury. O'Rourke was one of the favourites for the European title at the

after a seasonal best of 12.71 in the semi-final and, her silver medal attained at the 2006 Championships amongst other chief contenders like Carolin Nytra and Christina Vukicevic. In the final, she won the silver medal once again. O'Rourke set an Irish record of 12.65, cutting .02secs off her previous mark. Turkey's

Nevin Yanit Nevin may refer to: Surname * Nevin (surname) Given name Popular Turkish feminine name (from "nev" in Persian, meaning "new"). * Nevin Çokay (1930–2012), Turkish painter * Nevin Yanıt (born 1986), Turkish sprinter Nevin is a common surname o ...

won in 12.63, just .02 of a second ahead. O'Rourke said after the race "Medals are very special and, winning a silver medal in a new Irish record, I would take every day of the week, I think when I look back on my career whenever it ends, the only thing that will count is medals because they go into the history books and can't be taken away". O'Rourke has now been the only Irish athlete to win medals at the

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for m ...

in 2006 and 2010. She was greeted by her fans, the media and the sports minister Mary Hanafin when she landed home on 2 August. O'Rourke was selected to represent Europe in the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup (Formerly IAAF World Cup) making her the 5th Irish person and second female to be selected to represent Europe after

John Treacy John Treacy (born 4 June 1957 in Villierstown, County Waterford) is an Irish Olympian and former athlete, now a sporting administrator. Athletic career Treacy attended St Anne's Post-Primary School in Cappoquin, County Waterford, Ireland, ...

(7th in 1979), Eamonn Coghlan (Gold in 1981), John Doherty (Silver in 1991) and

Sonia O'Sullivan Sonia O'Sullivan (born 28 November 1969) is an Irish former track and field athlete. She won a gold medal in the 5000 metres at the 1995 World Championships, and a silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 2000 Olympic Games. Her 2000 m wor ...

(5th in 1994, and Gold in 1998). O'Rourke finished 5th in a time of 12.99 seconds. The winner was

Sally Pearson Sally Pearson, OAM (née McLellan; born 19 September 1986) is an Australian former athlete. She is the 2011 and 2017 World champion and 2012 Olympic champion in the 100 metres hurdles. She also won a silver medal in the 100 m hurdles at th ...

in a time of 12.65. After injury interrupted training O'Rourke competed in the 60m Hurdles at the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Paris. She finished 2nd in her heat in 8.07 seconds and then ran a season's best of 7.98 to come 3rd in the semi-final. O'Rourke finished 4th in the final, running another season's best of 7.96. A the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in th ...

, O'Rourke finished second in her heat behind eventual champion

of Australia who clocked 12.53. O'Rourke withdrew from her semi-final citing injury. She clocked a seasonal best of 12.84 at La Chaux-de-Fonds. Heading to her third Olympics in 2012, O'Rourke would at last make the semi-finals where she posted a season's best of 12.91 seconds. As her career wound down, O'Rourke picked up a fifth major medal - 60 m hurdles bronze at the 2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships in

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. This medal, however, was not awarded to her until 2015 when initial gold medalist, Nevin Yanit, had her result rescinded following multiple doping violations. This saw O'Rourke's 7.95 seconds finish elevated from fourth to the bronze medal position. In June 2014 O'Rourke announced her retirement from athletics.

Personal life

O'Rourke and her husband, two-time Olympian Peter O'Leary, welcomed their first child, daughter Dafne, in August 2015. Son Archie was then born in April 2019.

Major competition finals record

2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships (Gothenburg) * – 60 m Hurdles (7.95 SB) 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships (Paris) *4th place – 60 m Hurdles (7.96 SB) 2010 IAAF Continental Cup (Split) *5th place –

100 m Hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first hurdle is p ...

(12.99) 2010 European Championships (Barcelona) * –

(12.65 NR) 2009 World Championships (Berlin) *4th place –

(12.67 NR) 2009 European Athletics Indoor Championships (Turin) * – 60 m Hurdles (7.97 SB) 2006 European Championships (Gothenburg) * – 100 m Hurdles (12.72 NR) 2006 World Indoor Championships (Moscow) * – 60 m Hurdles (7.84 NR) 2005 World University Games (Izmir) * –

(13.02) 2005 World University Games (Izmir) * –

4 × 100 m 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest ...

Relay 2003 European Athletics U23 Championships (Bydgoszcz) *4th place – 100 m Hurdles (12.96 NR)

Personal bests

*All information taken from IAAF profile.O'Rourke Derval Biography
IAAF. Retrieved 16 October 2019.

National records

*Outdoor **100 metres hurdles – 12.65 (Barcelona, 31 July 2010) *Indoor **60 metres hurdles – 7.84 (Moscow, 11 March 2006)

References

External links

Official WebsiteOfficial blog
*
Athletics Ireland Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orourke, Derval 1981 births Living people Irish female hurdlers Athletes from the Republic of Ireland Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Ireland Sportspeople from Cork (city) European Athletics Championships medalists Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade bronze medalists for Ireland World Athletics Indoor Championships winners Medalists at the 2005 Summer Universiade