Fionnuala McCormack seals place in Tokyo Olympics
Fionnuala shatters PB and qualifies for Toyko
KILCOOLE’S Fionnuala McCormack finished a superb fifth at the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, with the 35-yearold clocking 2:26:47 to carve almost four minutes off her personal best.
That secured the Co. Wicklow athlete automatic qualification for next year’s Olympics in Tokyo and moved her to number two on the Irish all-time list. Her previous best was the 2:30:38 she ran to finish 11th at the Boston Marathon earlier this year.
The race was won by Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei in a world record of 2:14:04, obliterating the previous record of 2:15:25, which was set by Paula Radcliffe in 2003. Kosgei passed halfway in a blistering 1:06:59, which many deemed a suicidal pace, but the 25-year-old maintained her form well in the closing miles to shatter Radcliffe’s previous mark.
McCormack, meanwhile, passed halfway in 1:12:56 and came home strongly to record her highest ever finish in a marathon major. It puts her behind only Catherina McKiernan, who clocked 2:22:23 in 1998, on the Irish all-time list.
It also moved Fionnuala ahead of legendary runner Sonia O’Sullivan and Kerrie May in that all-time list.
The Kilcoole woman is also the most capped Irish female athlete of all time with 35 caps ,with Sonian O’Sullivan behind her with 32.
She is also the first female Irish athlete to qualify for the Olympics in 2020.
Fionnulala plans to do the European Cross Country in Decemner in Portugal and she will then turn her attention to the World Half-Marathon Championships in Poland where she will be looking to under 70 minutes in March.
It’s expected that the Kilcoole native will participate in much more racing in 2020 in preparation for the Olympics.