Louise Shanahan

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]

Louise Shanahan

2022 European Championships by Sandro Halank
Personal information
Nationality	Irish
Born	(1997-01-26) 26 January 1997 (age 28) Cork, Ireland[1]
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event	800 metres

Early life and education

Shanahan was born in Cork, Ireland, a child of Liz and Ray Shanahan.^[5] When she was growing up, Shanahan's father was her coach, until she moved to England.^[6] 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]

Shanahan obtained a BSc degree in physics from the University College Cork (Cork, Ireland) in 2019.^[9] At the moment, she is completing a PhD in physics at Trinity College, Cambridge.^[10]

Career

In 2013, Shanahan became the European Youth Champion in the 800 metres.^[11] However, after breaking a bone in her foot in 2015, she struggled to maintain her form.^[11] Despite this, she was the Irish 1500m champion in 2021.^[6]

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.^[11] She made the qualification for the Ireland Olympic team following results in Europe ahead of the Games.^[11] At the beginning of 2021, she had targeted a place at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.^[12][6]