Louise Shanahan | |
Nationality: | Irish |
Sport: | Athletics |
Event: | 800 metres |
Birth Date: | 26 January 1997 |
Birth Place: | Cork, Ireland[1] |
Louise Shanahan (born 26 January 1997) is an Irish athlete.[2] [3] She competed in the women's 800 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[4] Shanahan obtained a BSc degree in physics from the University College Cork (Cork, Ireland) in 2019.
When she was growing up, Shanahan's father, Ray, was her coach, until she moved to England.[5] In 2013, Shanahan became the European Youth Champion in the 800 metres.[6] However, after breaking a bone in her foot in 2015, she struggled to maintain her form.[6] Despite this, she was the Irish 1500m champion in 2021.[5] Her father was also an Irish national champion in the 1500 meters,[7] making them the first father and daughter to become national champions in Ireland in that event.[8]
From February 2021, she began to improve her performances in an attempt to take part in the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, after the World Student Games were cancelled.[6] She made the qualification for the Ireland Olympic team following results in Europe ahead of the Games.[6] At the beginning of 2021, she had targeted a place at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.[9] [5]
Outside of sport, Shanahan graduated from the University of Cork,[10] and is completing a PhD in physics at Trinity College, Cambridge.[11]