Cork's Aoife Cooke seals Olympic spot

Her marathon run moves her to fourth on the Irish all-time list behind Catherina McKiernan, Fionnuala McCormack and Carey May, and one place ahead of Sonia O’Sullivan

Aoife Cooke

Back home in Ballincollig, Aoife Cooke’s family gathered around the TV and screamed their support, watching the live stream and hoping, wishing, willing her to reach the finish line before the clock reached 2:29:30.

That time was all that mattered at today’s Cheshire Elite Marathon – the automatic qualifying standard for the Tokyo Olympics. In the end, the 34-year-old Cork athlete didn’t just sneak under it so much as stamp all over it, clocking a superb 2:28:36 to take four minutes off her best and move to fourth on the all-time list, one spot ahead of Sonia O’Sullivan.