Tokyo twinkles for Gortin’s Olympian Eilish Flanagan

GORTIN’S Eilish Flanagan is bound for Tokyo after the talented runner sealed her place at this summer’s Olympic Games with a top performance last week.

The 3,000 metres steeplechase runner recorded a time of 9:42.71 minutes at a meet in Lucerne, Switzerland last week, which was the second fastest time of her illustrious career.

What makes her effort in Switzerland all the more impressive is that she did it on the back of just a few days rest after finishing second in 9:46.52 minutes at the Irish Track and Field Championships the weekend before, coming home just behind Michelle Finn, who will also compete in the steeplechase in Tokyo.

While none of those recent times of the 23-year-old Carmern Runners Athletics Club member meet the Olympic standard for the event, her latest efforts have pushed her high enough up the rankings to earn her a spot in Tokyo.

It’s quite the rise for the former Sacred Heart College pupil, who came through the ranks at Omagh Harriers before earning a scholarship at Adams State University in Colorado.

While in America, Eilish -alongside equally talented twin sister Roisin, who is excelling in the 1,500 metres and 5,000 metres – helped her school to a host of team titles during her five years there, as well as claiming plenty of individual accolades.

At Adams State, Flanagan was on the 2019 NCAA Division II Women’s Cross Country championship team, finishing second in the 6,000-meter race.

Throughout her academic career, she has brought home top medals.

Most recently, in 2021, she finished first in the 1,500-meter at the CSU Pueblo Spank Blasing Open at 4:23.42; set a new NCAA Division II record at the Oregon Twilight and won the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championship in the 3,000-meter steeple at 9:57.44. She also took second in the 5,000-meter with a time of 15:50.59.