Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | Moynalvey, County Meath, Ireland [1] | 22 June 1989
Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) |
Weight | 58 kg (128 lb) |
Sport | |
Country | Ireland |
Sport | Track and field |
Event(s) | 3000 metres steeplechase |
Sara Louise Treacy (born 22 June 1989) is an Irish runner who competes primarily in the 3000 metres steeplechase. [2] She represented her country at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing without qualifying for the final. She also competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics. [3]
Sara Louise Treacy was born on 22 June 1989 to Liam and Siobhan, both former international distance runners. Her brother Daniel and sister Fódhla were talented athletes in Athletics, hockey and equestrian sport at school and university. [4] Siobhan ran in three World Cross Country Championships. Treacy started training when she was seven or eight years old, and her parents would only let her train for one night a week because they thought she was too young for a more intensive training regimen. When she was a little older she trained with the Moynalvey-Kilcloon AC. She also tried football and hockey with success and also eventing and showjumping where she competed with the Meath Hunt pony club with success in the British Pony Club Tetrathlon Championships on several occasions. Towards the end of her secondary school career at The King's Hospital decided to focus on athletics. She won the home countries schools International Cross Country and her first major international competition was the 2006 World Cross Country event in Fukuoka, Japan. She competed in the 6000m and finished in 69th place. [5] Treacy's experience there encouraged her to commit to training. She considered leaving for the United States to train, but decided not to as she wished to study medicine as an undergraduate. [6]
She was awarded a sports scholarship and began studying medicine at The University of Birmingham in 2007 and graduated in 2013. [6]
She competed at the 2008 World Junior Championships in the 1500m. She did not advance past the first heat, finishing with a time of 4:26.28. [7] In the European U23 Championships in Lithuania, Treacy placed 18th in the 1500m. [8] In the following year's European U23 Championships she set a personal best time in the first heat of 4:16.32, which qualified her for the finals. Out of the 12 finalists, she finished 10th with a time of 4:25.97. [9] [10] She was later moved up to ninth place when Yelena Arzhakova was disqualified. [11]
At the 2012 European Cross Country Championships in Budapest she was part of the Irish winning women's team and in the 2014 European Cross Country in Bulgaria, Treacy was part of the bronze-medal winning team, beating France by one point. [12] She finished in 12th place at the event. [13]
She originally focused on long distance running, but after the European Cross Country decided to switch to the steeplechase. [6] Treacy ran the 3000m steeplechase at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing. She was disappointed in her time of 9:48.24, which gave her 13th place in her heat and 29th overall. [14]
Treacy raced in the 2016 European Championships 3000m steeplechase. She finished the first heat with a personal best time of 9:42.16. It was the eighth fastest time and she advanced to the finals. [15] Ireland was the only country to have three athletes in the final, and it was the first time Ireland had three athletes in any final at the European Championships. [16] Treacy was the second fastest Irish athlete, finishing overall in ninth place with a time of 9:45.19. [17]
All three Irishwoman 3000m steeplechase competitors qualified for the 2016 Olympics during the 2015 Letterkenny AC International. Treacy's qualifying time was 9:44.15, inside the required time of 9:45. [18] She just missed qualifying for the World Championships, which had a requirement of 9:44. [19] Treacy competed in the 3000m steeplechase at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. In the qualifying heat Treacy was in ninth place but dropped down to eleventh after she sustained a heavy fall in the leading group and with a number of other runners. Before the fall she was in a qualifying position and her finishing place was not high enough to advance to the finals. Ireland's track and field manager appealed the results, and about an hour after the race an announcement was made that Treacy and the two downed runners qualified for the finals. [20] Eighteen athletes qualified for the finals instead of the anticipated 15. [21] In the finals Treacy ran a time of 9:52.70 and finished 17th. [22]
After twisting her ankle during the Rio semifinals, Treacy did not compete in any event in 2017. The next year she competed again in the 3000m steeplechase, but could not get within 30 seconds of her best time. She went back to work in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham core medical trainee. In 2019 she qualified for the European Cross Country, finishing in 26th. Her place qualified her for the 2019 World Cross Country Championships in Denmark. [5]
Event | Time | Venue | Date | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1500 metres (indoor) | 4:16.73 | Ghent 2015 | 7 February 2015 | [23] |
1500 metres (outdoor) | 4:16.29 | Watford 2014 | 18 June 2014 | [23] |
3000 metres (indoor) | 9:06.23 | Sheffield 2015 | 15 February 2015 | [24] [25] |
3000 metres (outdoor) | 9:08.81 | Loughborough 2015 | 17 May 2015 | [23] |
3000 metres steeplechase | 9:39:41 | Müller Anniversary Games 2016 | 23 July 2016 | [26] |
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing ![]() | |||||
2008 | World Junior Championships | Bydgoszcz, Poland | 19th (h) | 1500 m | 4:26.28 |
2009 | European U23 Championships | Kaunas, Lithuania | 18th (h) | 1500 m | 4:24.08 |
2011 | European U23 Championships | Ostrava, Czech Republic | 9th | 1500 m | 4:25.97 |
2015 | World Championships | Beijing, China | 29th (h) | 3000 m s'chase | 9:48.24 |
2016 | European Championships | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 9th | 3000 m s'chase | 9:45.19 |
Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 17th | 3000 m s'chase | 9:52.70 |
Sonia O'Sullivan 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 world record of 5:25.36, set in 1994 stood until 2017.
Fionnuala McCormack is an Irish runner who has competed at a range of distance running events. She was the gold medallist at the 2011 and 2012 European Cross Country Championships. She has represented Ireland in the steeplechase at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics, the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and 2011 World Championships in Athletics, and twice at the European Athletics Championships. In December 2012, Britton became the first woman to successfully defend the European Cross Country Championship.
Ancuța Bobocel is a Romanian middle-distance runner who specializes in the 3000 metres steeplechase. She represented Romania at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics and is a three-time participant at the World Championships in Athletics. In 2009, she won the European U23 and Jeux de la Francophonie steeplechase titles, as well as a silver at the Summer Universiade.
Sara Isabel Fonseca MoreiraComM is a Portuguese runner who competes in cross country, road running and in middle-distance and long-distance track events. She represents Sporting CP at club level.
Jeremiah Kiernan was an Irish long-distance runner.
Habiba Ghribi is a Tunisian middle- and long-distance runner who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase. She won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, giving her country its first Olympic medal by a woman. She is also the Tunisian record holder in the event, having run 9:05.36 at the Memorial van Damme in Brussels in September 2015.
Emma Jane Coburn is an American middle-distance runner who specializes in the 3000-meters steeplechase. She holds the distinction of being a world champion, world silver medalist, Olympic bronze medalist, three-time Olympian and 10-time US National Champion in the steeplechase.
Luiza Gega is an Albanian middle- and long-distance runner who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase since 2016. She won the silver medal in the event at the 2016 European Championships, and a gold in 2022 setting the championship record in the process. Her silver was the first ever Albania’s European medal, while her gold was the first ever title for the country at the European Athletics Championships.
Sifan Hassan is an Ethiopian-born Dutch middle- and long-distance runner. She completed an unprecedented triple at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, winning gold medals in both the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres and a bronze medal for the 1500 metres. Hassan is the only athlete in Olympic history to win medals across a middle-distance event and both long-distance races in a single Games. She is only the second woman to complete an Olympic distance double.
Colleen Quigley is an American middle-distance runner, steeplechase specialist and an Olympian from St. Louis, Missouri. She is the current World Record holder in the 4x1500 meters relay. Competing in the 3000 meters steeplechase, she finished 8th at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio and 12th at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing. She was the 2019 US National Indoor Champion in the one-mile event running 4:29.47 to capture the title and was the 2015 NCAA Champion in the 3000 meters steeplechase. In 2023, Quigley announced that she would start competing in triathlon events, but that she still plans to race track and field through 2024.
Kerry O'Flaherty is an Irish runner competing primarily in the 3000 metres steeplechase. She competed at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing without qualifying for the final. O'Flaherty competed in the 2016 Olympic Games. She has also competed at two European Championships and one European Indoor Championships.
Aisha Praught-Leer is a middle-distance runner from Illinois competing for Jamaica. She attended Woodrow Wilson Middle School and Moline High School. Praught competed in Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics after running the 1500 meters and steeplechase standards in 2015. Praught competed in the Women's 3000 metres steeplechase event at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing, China, but was disqualified. She was the gold medalist in the steeplechase at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Michelle Finn is an Irish runner competing in the 3000 metres steeplechase. She represented Ireland in the 3,000 metres steeplechase at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio; she finished 11th in her heat. Previously she had also represented Ireland at the 2015 World Championships.
Norah Jeruto Tanui is a Kazakhstani long-distance runner specialising in the steeplechase. She won the gold medal in the 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2022 World Championships, becoming the first athlete representing Kazakhstan to win a title at the World Athletics Championships and setting a championship record in the process. Jeruto took gold in the event at the 2016 African Championships in Athletics.
Ciara Mageean is a middle-distance runner from Portaferry in Northern Ireland who specialises in the 1500 metres. She is a three-time European Athletics Championship medallist at the event, with bronze in 2016 and silver in 2022 outdoors, and bronze in 2019 indoors. Mageean won also silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Lizzie Lee is an Irish marathon runner. She qualified for the 2016 Olympics where she finished 57th.
Soufiane El Bakkali is a Moroccan male runner specializing in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion, having previously finished fourth at the 2016 Rio Olympics. At the World Athletics Championships, El Bakkali won the gold medal in 2022, silver in 2017 and bronze in 2019. He also placed third at the 2019 African Games and second at the 2018 African Championships.
Anna Emilie Møller is a Danish athlete competing in the 3000 metres steeplechase. She represented her country at the 2016 Summer Olympics without qualifying for the final. In her heat, however, she set the new national and European junior record in the event.
Rhasidat Adeleke is an Irish sprinter, of Nigerian origins. She won the 100 metres / 200 m double at the 2021 European Athletics Under-20 Championships.
Eilish Flanagan is an Irish long distance runner. She competed in the 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2020 Olympics.