Olive Loughnane

Olive Loughnane is an Irish retired racewalker. A four-times Olympian and was 2009 World champion in the 20 km walk.

Early life

Loughane was born in 1976 in County Cork, the eldest of seven children. She moved to Carrabane, County Galway, with her family when she was a child. She is a graduate of University College Galway, having obtained a B.Comm. in 1996.

Sporting career

Loughnane competed at four Olympic Games and six consecutive editions of the World Championships in Athletics. She won a gold medal at the 2009 World Championships after the disqualification of the original gold medallist for a drug offence. As of December 2016, Loughnane had not received the prize money.
Loughnane failed to finish the walk at the 2010 European Athletics Championships. She had a win on the 2011 World Race Walking circuit at the Dudinska Patdesiatka in March 2011.
Loughnane announced her retirement in February 2013.

Sports administration

Loughnane became a member of the Sport Ireland High Performance Committee after retiring from competitive sport in 2013, and subsequently became of a member of the board of Sport Ireland.

Personal life

Loughnane currently lives in Coachford, Cork with her husband, Martin Corkery, and their three children. She currently works as a Statistician in the Central Statistics Office.