CAOIMHE Flannery celebrated the biggest win of her athletics career with a pasta pesto and chicken in an Italian restaurant in Tullamore on Friday night.
It was a feast fit for a champion, apt considering just hours earlier the Castlehaven teenager (18) had smashed a national record on her way to gold in the senior girls’ 1500m steeplechase at the 123.ie All-Ireland Schools Track and Field Championships.
The Skibbereen Community School fifth-year student dominated from the start, and her lead grew with each lap before she powered down the home straight to win in an Irish schools’ record time of 4:56.02.
Her closest competitor Dearbhla Allen (St Marys Dundalk) was almost ten seconds behind in second place (5:05.33), with Katie Hennessy (St Aloysius Carrigtwohill) winning bronze (5:18.51).
‘It was an unbelievable feeling,’ Caoimhe told The Southern Star, pointing to her recent Munster schools’ record of 4:57.73 that had broken the previous record by almost ten seconds – that showed she had the form and speed to do something special at Tullamore Harriers Stadium.
‘I had a really strong run in the Munsters when I ran a Munster record – that time I ran was also faster than the All-Ireland record. I knew if I ran the same way I had in the Munsters then I would have a strong race,’ she explained.
‘That gave me the confidence to know that if I could run something similar then it would be a fast time.’
Caoimhe conquers this water jump on her way to glory. (Photo: Perri Williams)
If you watch the All-Ireland final, you’ll notice that the West Cork teen never looked behind her once. She stayed focussed throughout.
‘In the steeplechase you never really know what could happen because with all the barriers and the water jumps anything can go wrong,’ Caoimhe said.
‘When I was coming down the back straight someone told me I had a good lead and to just go for the record, so I focussed on keeping my pace and finishing strong.’
This is Caoimhe’s second All-Ireland schools’ gold medal, and first at senior level – that’s why she will treasure this one. In 2022, her first year as an intermediate, Caoimhe finished third in the All-Ireland schools’ steeplechase, and came back the following year to win the intermediate schools’ steeplechase.
Last year, her first at senior level, Caoimhe finished second in the steeplechase, before grabbing the headlines this year. And she has another year at senior level left, as she will be in her Leaving Cert year.
With school out for the summer, she’s looking forward to a busy schedule with her club, Skibbereen AC, with the steeplechase her focus. One noticeable difference is the clubs’ steeplechase is 3000m compared to the schools’ distance of 1500m, but like her All-Ireland gold-winning performance Caoimhe will take this in her stride.
She points out, too, that this is a team effort. She was joined by her mom Emer and coach Joan Hough for her celebration dinner in Tullamore, while physio Mary Gleasure has had an important role to play in her strength and conditioning programme.
