Olive Loughnane wins the Texaco Sportstar award

In Athletics, the Texaco Sportstar award was won by World Championship medal winner Olive Loughnane.

Seventh in the Beijing Olympics, Olive Loughnane still believed that she could achieve more and that being a 30-something was not a barrier to a podium finish. So before heading for the World Championships in Berlin she promised her daughter Eimear that she would bring home a medal. And she was true to her word, finishing second in the 20 kilometers walk, just 49 seconds behind the defending world champion and Olympic gold medalist, Olga Kaniskina of Russia.

This outstanding performance moved her into the elite company of Sonia O’Sullivan, Eamonn Coghlan and Gillian O’Sullivan as our only athletes to win World Championship outdoor medals.

Olive spoke to Cóilín Duffy at the Texaco awards ceremony in Ballsbridge.