Louise Shanahan (born 26 January 1997) is an Irish

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

. She competed in the women's 800 metres event at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

. Shanahan obtained a BSc degree in physics from the University College Cork (

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, Ireland) in 2019.

Biography

When she was growing up, Shanahan's father, Ray, was her coach, until she moved to England. In 2013, Shanahan became the European Youth Champion in the 800 metres. However, after breaking a bone in her foot in 2015, she struggled to maintain her form. Despite this, she was the Irish 1500m champion in 2021. Her father was also an Irish national champion in the

1500 meters The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

, making them the first father and daughter to become national champions in Ireland in that event. From February 2021, she began to improve her performances in an attempt to take part in the delayed

in Tokyo, after the

World Student Games In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

were cancelled. She made the qualification for the Ireland Olympic team following results in Europe ahead of the Games. At the beginning of 2021, she had targeted a place at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 2024), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la XXXIIIe Olympiade, links=no) and also known as Paris 2024, is an upcoming international multi-sport event that is s ...

in Paris. Outside of sport, Shanahan graduated from the University of Cork, and is completing a PhD in physics at Trinity College, Cambridge.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shanahan, Louise 1997 births Living people Irish female middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Ireland Place of birth missing (living people) Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics Athletes from Cork (city) 21st-century Irish women European Games competitors for Ireland Athletes (track and field) at the 2023 European Games