ATHLETICS | Double bronze at Masters World Championships for Louth's Geraldine Finegan
Louth athlete Geraldine Finegan represented her country, her county and her club, North East Runners Athletics, with distinction at the recent Masters World Athletics Championships, finishing the competition with two bronze medals.
The event, which ran from August 13th to 25th in Gothenburg, Sweden, was a hugely successful one for Finegan, who made the podium with her sterling efforts in the pole value and pentathlon.
Finegan took part in seven different sports over two days including the 100 metres hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 metres, long jump, javelin throw and the 800 metres in the pentathlon, and though she was pipped to gold and silver by rivals from Australia and Germany, her bronze medal was a superb achievement.
In the pole vault, Great Britain’s Irie Hill – who is a former Commonwealth Games bronze medallist and world record holder - vaulted to gold with USA’s Jennifer Harris securing silver, though Finegan again managed to claim bronze for Ireland
Finegan, who looked comfortable competing against the event favourites on the best sites for sports betting, began competing in masters athletics at the age of 37. She claimed five medals at the World Indoor Championships in Germany including goal in the javelin, silver in the 400m & 800m and bronze in both the 60n hurdles and pentathlon.
Finegan was recently diagnosed with Graves Disease – an affliction that affects the Thyroid gland - making her achievements in Gothenburg all the more remarkable.
Fellow North East Runners Athletic Club member, Brian Lynch, also ran with distinction in Sweden and earned a silver medal for his efforts in the 1500m.
In total, Irish athletes brought home a fantastic haul of 35 medals from the World Masters Athletic Championships. Despite being listed as underdogs in the majority of events on betting apps, the Irish again punched above their weight to leave with a sizable medal bounty.
There were 12 gold medals for Ireland overall, with John MacDermott earning top billing in the 200m hurdles, 80m hurdles and 400m. Anne Gilshinan claimed gold in the 1500m while Anette Kealy from Raheny finished first in the 10k road race.
Elsewhere, Edel Maguire won a gold medal in the high jump while Michelle Kenny secured gold in the 8k Cross Country race. It was gold again for Annette Quaid in the 400m, while Fiona Kehoe, representing Kimore, was a winner in the 1500m.
Fiona Gettings, Karla Doran and Rachel Murphy combined to pick up gold for Ireland in the 8k Team Cross Country event, while Annette Kealy, Irene Clements, Donna Evans delivered the goods for the Irish in another team event in the Half Marathon.
Finally, Ger Cremin, Keith Pollard, Jim Phelan, Carlton Haddock ran brilliantly to collect gold in the 4x400m Relay for Team Ireland.
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