Who is Fionnuala McCormack? Five facts about the first Irish woman in five Olympic games
On Sunday, Fionnuala McCormack will compete in the women’s marathon. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Fionnuala McCormack will compete this Sunday in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics, making her the first Irish woman to compete in five Olympic games since her debut in Beijing in 2008.
The 39-year-old has competed in a number of distance running events and has won many accolades during her career.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Wicklow woman and her five-Olympic journey.
Fionnuala Britton was born in 1984, and is just weeks away from her 40th birthday in September.
She still lives in Kilcoole, Wicklow, the same town she found her feet in when it came to athletics when she was young. She was encouraged by her older sister to join the local club and the rest – as they say – is history.
Running quickly became her favourite sport, and early success at juvenile and U23 level showed her talent.
Since then, McCormack has gone on to compete in steeplechase in 2008 and the 5,000 km and 10,000 km in 2012. She has taken part in the women’s marathon in both 2016 and 2021.
McCormack kicked off her international junior career in cross country running in 2001. Her debut championship was in Lausanne in Switzerland at the 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
She has gone on to win a number of medals throughout her career, including an individual gold at the 2011 and 2012 European Cross Country Championships, as well as a team gold at the same competition; a steeplechase silver at the 2006 European Cup; an under-23s silver medal at the 2006 European Cross Country Championships; as well as a number of bronze medals.
McCormack has also won countless other cross-country and athletic competitions over the years.
Last December, McCormack became the first Irishwoman to qualify for five Olympic games after running 2:26:19 at the Valencia Marathon.
She was over half a minute inside the Olympic qualifying time, meaning it was time to start preparations for Paris.
On Sunday, she will compete in the women’s marathon alongside 90 other athletes from across the world. The event kicks off at 7am.
As mentioned, it was McCormack’s sister who encouraged her to get into running when they were young. However, her younger sister, Una, has followed in her footsteps – literally – to compete in athletic competitions.
In 2019, the sisters made history at the Irish National Cross Country Championships by becoming the first sisters to stand on the senior women’s podium.
McCormack won her ninth national title at the event with a time of 28:41, while Una finished third behind Portlaoise AC’s Mary Mulhare.
Una has competed in competitions in Ireland and the United States in the last ten years in a number of different events and lengths.
In 2015, then Fionnuala Britton married Alan McCormack and they now share three daughters – Isla, Isabelle and Naomi – giving birth to their youngest just last year.
She said in 2019 that Alan was her coach, meaning their children often come with them to training.
On top of her running training, McCormack also loves swimming lengths of the pool or sitting in the sauna for heat training without the kids sometimes.
“They love the pool but, luckily for me, they are too young to join me in the gym yet.”
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