Sarah Leahy

Last updated
Sarah Leahy
Personal information
Born (1999-08-01) 1 August 1999 (age 25)
Sport
Sport Athletics
Event Sprint

Sarah Leahy (born 1 August 1999) is an Irish sprinter. She has represented Ireland at the World Athletics Championships and has won Irish national indoor titles over 60 metres. [1]

Contents

Career

Leahy won a silver medal in the Irish under-14 national indoor championships behind future senior national champion Molly Scott but athletics initially took a back seat as she played for the Killarney Legion in Gaelic Football, as well as for Kerry County and for the University of Limerick, prior to focusing fully on athletics in 2021. [2] [3]

She competed for Ireland in the 4 x 100 metre relay at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon. [4] She moved to Dublin and joined the training group in Tallaght coached by Daniel Kilgallon, which produced Irish sprinters such as Rhasidat Adeleke and Israel Olatunde. She won the Irish indoor title over 60 metres in February 2023, running 7.30 seconds, a time that moved her to joint fourth on the Irish all-time list. [5] She was later also runner-up over that distance in 2024. [2]

She regained the national indoor 60 metres title in February 2025, running 7.39 seconds. [6] [7] She was a member of the Irish women’s 4 x 100 metres relay team alongside Lauren Roy, Ciara Neville and Sarah Lavin who broke the Irish national record with a time of 43.73 seconds at the 2025 London Athletics Meet. [8]

Personal life

She is from Killarney in County Kerry and is a member of Killarney Valley AC. [9] [10] She has been involved in a research project at the University of Limerick looking into sprint analytics. She also previously studied engineering at the University and later worked as a technician with a construction company based in Ballymount, Dublin. [11] [5]

References

  1. "Sarah Leahy". World Athletics. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  2. 1 2 O'Mahony, John (February 18, 2025). "Killarney athlete has her sights on the LA Olympic Games". Killarney Today. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  3. "'It's work, train, sleep, there's not a lot of time for anything else': Sarah Leahy on her chase for another Irish sprint title". Irish Times. 17 February 2025.
  4. "World Athletics Championships, Oregon 2022". World Athletics. 24 July 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  5. 1 2 Dennehy, Cathal (18 Feb 2025). "After years out, Kerry native has sporting gaze fixed firmly on the track". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  6. "Kelly and Akinola among winners at Irish Indoors". BBC Sport. 23 Feb 2025. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  7. "Healy, Mawdsley and Akinola win National Indoor titles". RTE. 23 Feb 202. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  8. "Adeleke posts SB in 200m; Irish record for relay team". RTE. 19 Jul 2025. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  9. "Super Sarah sets a new Irish record". Killarney Today. July 19, 2025. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  10. Kissane, David (21 July 2025). "Killarney sprinter Sarah Leahy part of team to break Irish 4x100m relay record". Irish Independent. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  11. "Sprinter Sarah Leahy joins groundbreaking Limerick research project". Killarney Advertiser. 28 June 2025. Retrieved 27 July 2025.