Sara Louise Treacy

Sara Louise Treacy (born 22 June 1989) is an Irish runner who competes primarily in the 3000 metres steeplechase.[2] She represented her country at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing without qualifying for the final. She also competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[3]

Sara Louise Treacy
Personal information
Born (1989-06-22) 22 June 1989
Moynalvey, County Meath, Ireland[1]
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight58 kg (128 lb)
Sport
CountryIreland
SportTrack and field
Event(s)3000 metres steeplechase

Biography

Sara Louise Treacy was born on 22 June 1989 to Liam and Siobhan, both former international distance runners. Her brother Daniel and sister Fódhla were talented athletes in Athletics, hockey and equestrian sport at school and university.[4] Siobhan ran in three World Cross Country Championships. Treacy started training when she was seven or eight years old, and her parents would only let her train for one night a week because they thought she was too young for a more intensive training regimen. When she was a little older she trained with the Moynalvey-Kilcloon AC. She also tried football and hockey with success and also eventing and showjumping where she competed with the Meath Hunt pony club with success in the British Pony Club Tetrathlon Championships on several occasions. Towards the end of her secondary school career at The King's Hospital decided to focus on athletics. She won the home countries schools International Cross Country and her first major international competition was the 2006 World Cross Country event in Fukuoka, Japan. She competed in the 6000m and finished in 69th place.[5] Treacy's experience there encouraged her to commit to training. She considered leaving for the United States to train, but decided not to as she wished to study medicine as an undergraduate.[6]

She was awarded a sports scholarship and began studying medicine at The University of Birmingham in 2007 and graduated in 2013.[6]

She competed at the 2008 World Junior Championships in the 1500m. She did not advance past the first heat, finishing with a time of 4:26.28.[7] In the European U23 Championships in Lithuania, Treacy placed 18th in the 1500m.[8] In the following year's European U23 Championships she set a personal best time in the first heat of 4:16.32, which qualified her for the finals. Out of the 12 finalists, she finished 10th with a time of 4:25.97.[9][10] She was later moved up to ninth place when Yelena Arzhakova was disqualified.[11]

At the 2012 European Cross Country Championships in Budapest she was part of the Irish winning women's team and in the 2014 European Cross Country in Bulgaria, Treacy was part of the bronze-medal winning team, beating France by one point.[12] She finished in 12th place at the event.[13]

She originally focused on long distance running, but after the European Cross Country decided to switch to the steeplechase.[6] Treacy ran the 3000m steeplechase at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing. She was disappointed in her time of 9:48.24, which gave her 13th place in her heat and 29th overall.[14]

Treacy raced in the 2016 European Championships 3000m steeplechase. She finished the first heat with a personal best time of 9:42.16. It was the eighth fastest time and she advanced to the finals.[15] Ireland was the only country to have three athletes in the final, and it was the first time Ireland had three athletes in any final at the European Championships.[16] Treacy was the second fastest Irish athlete, finishing overall in ninth place with a time of 9:45.19.[17]

All three Irishwoman 3000m steeplechase competitors qualified for the 2016 Olympics during the 2015 Letterkenny AC International. Treacy's qualifying time was 9:44.15, inside the required time of 9:45.[18] She just missed qualifying for the World Championships, which had a requirement of 9:44.[19] Treacy competed in the 3000m steeplechase at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. In the qualifying heat Treacy was in ninth place but dropped down to eleventh after she sustained a heavy fall in the leading group and with a number of other runners. Before the fall she was in a qualifying position and her finishing place was not high enough to advance to the finals. Ireland's track and field manager appealed the results, and about an hour after the race an announcement was made that Treacy and the two downed runners qualified for the finals.[20] Eighteen athletes qualified for the finals instead of the anticipated 15.[21] In the finals Treacy ran a time of 9:52.70 and finished 17th.[22]

After twisting her ankle during the Rio semifinals, Treacy did not compete in any event in 2017. The next year she competed again in the 3000m steeplechase, but could not get within 30 seconds of her best time. She went back to work in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham core medical trainee. In 2019 she qualified for the European Cross Country, finishing in 26th. Her place qualified her for the 2019 World Cross Country Championships in Denmark.[5]

Statistics

Personal bests
Event Time Venue Date Notes
1500 metres (indoor) 4:16.73 Ghent 2015 7 February 2015 [23]
1500 metres (outdoor) 4:16.29 Watford 2014 18 June 2014 [23]
3000 metres (indoor) 9:06.23 Sheffield 2015 15 February 2015 [24][25]
3000 metres (outdoor) 9:08.81 Loughborough 2015 17 May 2015 [23]
3000 metres steeplechase 9:39:41 Müller Anniversary Games 2016 23 July 2016 [26]

Competition record
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing  Ireland
2008 World Junior Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 19th (h) 1500 m 4:26.28
2009 European U23 Championships Kaunas, Lithuania 18th (h) 1500 m 4:24.08
2011 European U23 Championships Ostrava, Czech Republic 9th 1500 m 4:25.97
2015 World Championships Beijing, China 29th (h) 3000 m s'chase 9:48.24
2016 European Championships Amsterdam, Netherlands 9th 3000 m s'chase 9:45.19
Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 17th 3000 m s'chase 9:52.70

References
  1. "Meet Ireland's Olympic team: Sara Treacy". The 42. 20 July 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  2. "Sara Louise Treacy". IAAF. 24 August 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  3. "Treacy Sara Louise". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 25 November 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  4. O'Riordan, Ian (30 July 2016). "Sara Treacy – Athletics". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  5. Dennehy, Cathal (29 March 2019). "Treacy 'to give it a lash' after long road back to World stage". Irish Independent. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  6. O'Riordan, Ian (7 July 2016). "Sara Treacy knows hitting peak in Rio will be just what doctor ordered". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  7. "Mageean makes World Juniors final". BBC. 11 July 2008. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  8. "Fionnuala Britton retains Euro Cross Country gold medal". BBC. 11 December 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  9. "Irish out of luck on final day in Ostrava". RTE. 17 July 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  10. "Good Performances from Irish at Euro U23's". runireland.com. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  11. "EUROPEAN ATHLETICS U23 CHAMPIONSHIPS - OSTRAVA 2011". European Athletics. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  12. "European Cross Country: Pollock finishes 23rd in Bulgaria". BBC. 14 December 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  13. O'Riordan, Ian (15 December 2014). "Ireland's women team make podium finish". The Irish Times. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  14. O'Riordan, Ian (24 August 2015). "More disappointment for Irish on day three in Beijing". The Irish Times. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  15. O'Riordan, Ian (8 July 2016). "Emotional Ciara Mageean celebrates making European Championship final". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  16. O'Sullivan, Sonia (14 July 2016). "Sonia O'Sullivan: Ciara Mageean now destined for a higher level". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  17. O'Riordan, Ian (10 July 2016). "Ireland's Ciara Mageean wins bronze at European Championships". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  18. "Three Irish athletes run Olympic qualifying times in Letterkenny". The Irish Times. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  19. O'Riordan, Ian (11 July 2015). "Targeted Olympic qualification approach pays off for Irish trio in Letterkenny". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  20. O'Riordan, Ian (13 August 2016). "Sara Treacy makes 3,000m steeplechase final after successful appeal". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  21. Strout, Erin (13 August 2016). "Three Americans Make Olympic Steeplechase Final After Rough-and-Tumble First Round". Runner's World. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  22. O'Riordan, Ian (15 August 2016). "Thomas Barr claims semi-final spot in 400m hurdles". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  23. "Sara Louise Treacy Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  24. "Ciara Mageean achieves European indoor standard". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 16 February 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  25. Lynch, Fergal (16 February 2015). "Treacy Beats the Best of British". Meath Chronicle. Celtic Media Group. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  26. "Sara wraps up her final Rio preparations with another significant PB at the Muller Anniversary Games, London". Dunboyne Athletic Club. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
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