Loughnane takes pressure in her stride
Two years on, O’Sullivan is battling back from injury and Loughnane is heading to Helsinki, to another world championships, in the hope of creating more headlines.
“It will be exciting,” Loughnane said yesterday. “This year, I adopted a different approach. I have not competed as much as in other years.
“The fact that I did the qualifying standard early meant that I could relax. I had time to prepare for the world championships and I was able to concentrate a lot on technique work.
“Then, when I competed at the national championships in the Phoenix Park, I did 92:20, which was well under the qualifying standard again. I was on my own for a lot of the way and that does not really suit me. I prefer when the race is competitive. Competition brings out the best in me.”
That one race told her a lot. Her training was producing results and her form was even better than 2003.
“Maybe I would know more if I had raced more - I’d have a better idea of my form but hopefully it will go well for me on the day.”
With the exception of last year’s Olympic Games, when she was sick before she went to Athens, Loughnane has always performed well at the major championships.
She finished 35th in the Sydney Games five years and has progressed steadily from that. She was 13th at the world championships in Edmonton the following year, then 12th in Paris and, in between, 13th at the European championships in Munich which she described as an average performance.
“But when you talk about the European championships you are talking about a race that is every bit as competitive as the world championships or the Olympic Games,” she said. “Most of the top walkers are European. The Chinese are obviously very strong, you also have Jane Saville from Australia who was third in Athens last year, and there are a few from Mexico and Central America who are very good.
“I think the worlds are going to be very exciting this year. Helsinki is a nice venue, it won’t be too unlike home.”
Cork has been Loughnane’s home since 1999. Though born in the city, most of her life has been spent in Galway, her father’s native county. As a youngster, she joined Loughrea Athletic Club but race walking was far from her mind. Instead, she ran cross-country and, on the track, was a member of the 4 x 400m team that won a national junior title.
“I did not take up race walking until I was 19,” she said. “I was a late starter.”
Her first coach was Michael Lane from Mullingar, a former international who has played a key role in the development of Irish race walking talent.
Her return to Cork to work in the Central Statistics Office coincided with a big upsurge in race walking in the city, which hosts the talents of Robert Heffernan, Gillian O’Sullivan, Jamie Costin, Colin Griffin and Jeff Cassin.
She married Martin Corkery, an All-Ireland junior football medal winner with Cork, and a vital component of her team.
She is coached by Ivonne Cassin; Martin McCarthy from Leevale, a former national cross-country champion, is her masseur; Mary Gleasure is her physiotherapist and Dr John O’Riordan from Blarney, a member of the AAI Medical Team, is her doctor.
She is on a job-share with the CSO. “It was just too much at the time. I felt I had more to give from an athletics point of view and working full time wasn’t fair to myself or anybody else,” she said. “But I love going into work. I enjoy my job - it’s challenging - and it helps me not to get too stuck in athletics.”
When she leaves for Helsinki today she will leave the disappointment of Athens last year behind her. “I was sick in the run-up to the Olympics but I decided to give it a try. It did not go well at all but it’s all behind me now,” she said.
“I am under a good bit of pressure going into the world championships but it is generated by me. I am going there to do well.”
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