Irish runner (born 1984)
Fionnuala McCormack
|
|
Born
| (
1984-09-24
)
24 September 1984
(age 39)
Wicklow
,
Ireland
|
---|
Height
| 1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)
|
---|
Weight
| 43 kg (95 lb)
|
---|
|
Fionnuala McCormack
(nee Britton; born 24 September 1984 in
Wicklow
) 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
, become the first woman to successfully defend the title. 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
.
Career
[
edit
]
She began her international junior career in
cross country running
in 2001, highlighted by 33rd place at the
2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
in her debut championships in Lausanne. She won a steeplechase silver at the
2006 European Cup
and also competed in the event at the
European Athletics Championships
, being eliminated in the heats.
[1]
She took the under-23
silver medal
at the
2006 European Cross Country Championships
at the end of the year. She was fourteenth in the senior race at the
2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
? the second best European performer behind
Jessica Augusto
(12th).
[2]
She made her global track debut at the
2007 World Championships in Athletics
and was twelfth in the steeplechase final.
[1]
She ended the year with a seventh-place finish at the
2007 European Cross Country Championships
.
She made her Olympic debut at the
2008 Summer Games
in Beijing, but did not make the women's steeplechase final. She came eleventh at the
2009 European Cross Country Championships
which was held in her home city of Dublin. Britton was also eleventh in the steeplechase final at the
2010 European Athletics Championships
.
[1]
She just missed out on a medal at the
2010 European Cross Country Championships
, finishing with the same time as bronze medallist
Ana Dulce Felix
. She took second place at the
Lotto Cross Cup Brussels
a week later.
[3]
In preparation for the world competition, she ran at the
Almond Blossom Cross Country
in March 2011 and took second place.
[4]
She managed 16th place at the
2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
in
Punta Umbria
. She ran a personal best of 15:31.26 minutes for the
5000 metres
at the
FBK Games
in June then ran a steeplechase best of 9:37.60 minutes at the
Adidas Grand Prix
in New York. Britton represented Ireland on the track at the
2011 World Championships in Athletics
, narrowly being eliminated in the first stage of the steeplechase.
[5]
In November she came third at the high-level
Cross de l'Acier
cross country race.
[6]
In December 2011, she won the gold medal at the
2011 European Cross Country Championships
.
[7]
[8]
She began 2012 with wins at the
Great Edinburgh Cross Country
and
Antrim Cross Country
.
[9]
She expressed her disappointment that the World Cross Country would not be held that year, and stated that she would focus on track running that year instead.
[10]
In December of that year she became the first woman to defend the continental cross title
[11]
claiming victory at the
2012 European Cross Country Championships
.
In January 2013, Britton retained her Great Edinburgh Cross Country
[12]
and Antrim Cross Country titles.
[13]
On 3 March 2013, she won a bronze medal in the
3000 metres
final at the
2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships
in
Gothenburg
.
[14]
[15]
She placed 13th at the
2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
, being Europe's top performer in the race and one of only two non-Africans in the top 15 (alongside
Neely Spence
).
[16]
She competed mainly in European competitions in the following two seasons, coming fourth at the
2013 European Cross Country Championships
, ranking eighth in the 10,000 m at the
2014 European Athletics Championships
, then ending in sixth at the
2014 European Cross Country Championships
(and taking a team bronze).
She married in 2015 and began competing as Fionnuala McCormack.
[17]
Her first success under her married name was a team bronze at the
2015 European Cross Country Championships
, where she narrowly missed an individual medal in fourth place behind
Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal
.
[18]
She finished 5th in the
2019 Chicago Marathon
.
In 2019, she competed in the
senior women's race
at the
2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
held in Aarhus, Denmark.
[19]
She finished in 18th place.
[19]
In December 2022, she qualified for the
2024 Summer Olympics
, making her the first Irish woman to participate at five Olympic Games.
[20]
International competitions
[
edit
]
Year
|
Competition
|
Venue
|
Position
|
Event
|
Notes
|
Representing
Ireland
|
2005
|
European U23 Championships
|
Erfurt
, Germany
|
9th
|
3000 m st.
|
10:17.58
|
Universiade
|
?zmir
, Turkey
|
11th
|
3000 m st.
|
10:28.37
|
2006
|
European Championships
|
Gothenburg
, Sweden
|
17th (h)
|
3000 m st.
|
9:49.20
|
European Cross Country Championships
|
San Giorgio su Legnano
, Italy
|
2nd
|
Under-23 race (5.975 km)
|
18:56
|
2007
|
World Cross Country Championships
|
Mombasa
, Kenya
|
13th
|
Senior race (8 km)
|
28:45
|
World Championships
|
Osaka
, Japan
|
12th
|
3000 m st.
|
9:48.09
|
2008
|
World University Cross Country Championships
|
Haute Normandie
?
Rouen
, France
|
2nd
|
Under-23
|
22:39
|
Olympic Games
|
Beijing, China
|
10th
|
3000 m st.
|
9:43.57
|
2009
|
Universiade
|
Belgrade, Serbia
|
6th
|
3000 m st.
|
9:54.10
|
2010
|
European Championships
|
Barcelona
, Spain
|
11th
|
3000 m st.
|
9:45.25
|
2011
|
World Championships
|
Daegu, South Korea
|
9th
|
3000 m st.
|
9:41.17
|
European Cross Country Championships
|
Velenje
, Slovenia
|
1st
|
Senior race (8.170 km)
|
25:55
|
2012
|
European Championships
|
Helsinki
, Finland
|
4th
|
10000 m
|
32:05.54
|
Olympic Games
|
London
, England
|
12th
|
10,000 m
|
31:14.75
|
Olympic Games
|
London
, England
|
8th
|
5000 m
|
15:08.57
|
European Cross Country Championships
|
Budapest
, Hungary
|
1st
|
Senior race (8.050 km)
|
27:45
|
2013
|
European Indoor Championships
|
Gothenburg
, Sweden
|
3rd
|
3000m
|
9:00.54
|
World Cross Country Championships
|
Bydgoszcz
, Poland
|
14th
|
Senior Race (8 km)
|
25:08
|
European Cross Country Championships
|
Belgrade
, Serbia
|
5th
|
Senior race (8.050 km)
|
26:45
|
2014
|
European Championships
|
Zurich
, Switzerland
|
10th
|
Marathon
|
2:31:46
|
2015
|
European Cross Country Championships
|
Hyeres
, France
|
4th
|
Senior race
|
26:00
|
3rd
|
Team race
|
83 pts
|
2016
|
European Championships
|
Amsterdam
, Netherlands
|
5th
|
10,000 m
|
31:30.74
|
Olympic Games
|
Rio de Janeiro
, Brazil
|
20th
|
Marathon
|
2:29.58
|
2021
|
Olympic Games
|
Sapporo, Japan
|
25th
|
Marathon
|
2:34:09
|
Personal bests
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
Britton, Fionnuala
.
IAAF
. Retrieved on 19 December 2010.
- ^
2007 World XC Championships ? Women's Senior Race Results
Archived
3 February 2011 at the
Wayback Machine
.
IAAF
. Retrieved on 19 December 2010.
- ^
Hendrix, Ivo (20 December 2009).
Lalli and Herzog triumph in wintry Brussels
.
IAAF
. Retrieved on 8 February 2010.
- ^
Fernandes, Antonio Manuel (6 March 2011).
Kalovics and Menjo cruise to victories in Albufeira
.
IAAF
. Retrieved on 6 March 2011.
- ^
Britton Fionnuala
. IAAF. Retrieved on 1 December 2011.
- ^
Delporte, David (28 November 2011).
Joseph Ebuya n'a jamais laisse planer le doute
(in French)
. La Voix de Sports. Retrieved on 1 December 2011.
- ^
"Britton breezes to gold in Slovenia"
.
RTE Sport
. 11 December 2011. Archived from
the original
on 7 January 2012
. Retrieved
15 December
2011
.
- ^
"Gold puts the great in Britton"
.
Irish Examiner
. 13 December 2011
. Retrieved
15 December
2011
.
- ^
Duffy, Coilin (21 January 2012).
Kigen makes it a hat-trick; Britton takes women’s race win in Antrim
.
IAAF
. Retrieved on 22 January 2012.
- ^
Wenig, Jorg (7 January 2012).
Kiprop triumphs in race of champions, Bekele a distant 11th ? Edinburgh XC report
. IAAF. Retrieved on 8 January 2012.
- ^
Turnbull, Simon (6 January 2013).
[1]
. Retrieved on 22 January 2013.
- ^
"Fionnuala Britton takes victory in Edinburgh cross-country"
.
RTE News
. 5 January 2013.
- ^
"Fionnula Britton eases to comfortable success in the Antrim Cross Country"
.
RTE News
. 12 January 2013.
- ^
"Fionnuala Britton adds to medal haul with European bronze"
.
Irish Independent
. 3 March 2013
. Retrieved
8 March
2013
.
- ^
"Fionnuala Britton takes superb bronze in Sweden"
.
RTE Sport
. 3 March 2013
. Retrieved
8 March
2013
.
- ^
Results - 40th IAAF World Cross Country Championships 2013 - Bydgoszcz (Myslecinek Park), POLAND 24 MAR 2013 - Senior Race - women
,
IAAF
, 24 March 2013
, retrieved
6 November
2013
- ^
O'Riordan, Ian (2015-11-22).
Different name, same result as Fionnuala McCormack takes seventh title
.
Irish Times
. Retrieved on 2015-12-14.
- ^
SPAR European Cross Country Championships - Hyeres 2015 Senior Women Final
[
permanent dead link
]
. European Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-12-14.
- ^
a
b
"Senior women's race"
(PDF)
.
2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 27 June 2020
. Retrieved
27 June
2020
.
- ^
McGoldrick, Sean (7 January 2024).
"Paris calling for historic Irish team"
.
Sunday Independent
.
External links
[
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]