A Laois athlete has broken an Irish record that has stood for the last 19 years.
Mountmellick’s Ava O’Connor is now the holder of the U-23 national record for the 3000m steeplechase.
She achieved the feat at the Bryan Clay Invitational in California, running a time of 9:46.22 to break the previous record by three seconds.
That record was held since 2006 by Fionnuala McCormack – who went on to compete at five Olympic Games.
The daughter of Liam and Sinead O’Connor, Ava started running for her local club Emo/Rath.
A past pupil of Scoil Chriost Ri, Ava moved to Tullamore Harriers where she competed for the majority of her teenage years.
She won the Junior 1500m title at the Irish U-23 Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Tullamore in 2019.
Ava was chosen to represent Ireland in the 1500m at the 2019 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival in Baku.
She also won the Youth Nations Cup in Santry Stadium over 1500 metres in 2019.
All of those performances helped Ava achieve a scholarship at the end of 2020 to Adams State in Colorado – where she has studied since 2021.
The time achieved by Ava this week ensures she has achieved the standard to compete at the European Championships.
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