Gillian O'Sullivan (born 21 August 1976 in Killarney) is an Irish race walker. She set the unofficial world record in the 5000m walk in Belfast, United Kingdom since 2002 however, the IAAF have refused to verify it. She won a silver medal at the world championship in 2003 over 20km. It was the first time since 1995 that an Irish athlete had won a World Championship medal. Six years later in Berlin at the World Championships Olive Loughnane won silver at the same event as O'Sullivan.
O'Sullivan was also the first Irish athlete to win a medal in the walk at an Athletics Championship. O'Sullivan was one of the main contenders for Ireland to win a medal in the Olympics in Athens in 2004 in the 20 km walk but suffered an injury just before the games that prevented her from taking part. O'Sullivan retired on 19 April 2007 after years of injuries.
She now works as a personal trainer and runs a series of health, fitness and motivation talks in Cork.
Achievements
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  Ireland | |||||
| 1994 | World Junior Championships | Lisbon, Portugal | 22nd | 5000m | 24:19.38 |
| 1997 | European U23 Championships | Turku, Finland | 9th | 10 km | 50:19 |
| 1998 | European Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 23rd | 10 km | 48:24 |
| 1999 | World Race Walking Cup | Mézidon-Canon, France | 72nd | 20 km | 1:42:20 |
| World Championships | Seville, Spain | 32nd | 20 km | 1:40:33 | |
| 2000 | European Race Walking Cup | Eisenhüttenstadt, Germany | 14th | 20 km | 1:31:31 |
| Olympic Games | Sydney, Australia | 10th | 20 km | 1:33:10 | |
| 2001 | European Race Walking Cup | Dudince, Slovakia | 9th | 20 km | 1:31:13 |
| World Championships | Edmonton, Canada | — | 20 km | DSQ | |
| 2002 | European Championships | Munich, Germany | 4th | 20 km | 1:28:46 |
| 2003 | World Championships | Paris, France | 2nd | 20 km | 1:27:34 |
| 2004 | World Race Walking Cup | Naumburg, Germany | 8th | 20 km | 1:28:01 |
She attended Lissivigeen N.S
External links
- http://www.gillianosullivan.ie
- Gillian O'Sullivan at World Athletics
- http://www.athleticsireland.ie/content/?p=1434#more-1434
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Gillian O'Sullivan". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 29 March 2009.