O’Keeffe comes full circle

EILEEN O’KEEFFE made Irish athletics history when finishing sixth in the final of the hammer throw at the World Championships in Osaka two years ago.

Before that only Dr Pat O’Callaghan, who won back-to-back Olympic hammer titles in 1928 and 1932, and John Lawlor, who finished fourth in Rome in 1960, had made such a final at a major championships.

The fact that she was the first woman – and basically self-coached – made it an even more exceptional achievement.