32 years after Sonia O'Sullivan was crowned Irish U17 1500m champion, her daughter won the same title in Tullamore on Sunday afternoon at the National Juvenile Track & Field Championships.
Sophie O'Sullivan, running for Ballymore Cobh, won her final in a time of 4:41.80 ahead of Swinford's Maeve Gallagher in second and Kilkenny City Harriers' Annie McEvoy in third.
Girls U17 1500m:
1. Sophie O'Sulllivan (@BallymoreCobhAC)
2. Maeve Gallagher (Swinford A.C.)
3. Annie McEvoy (Kilkenny City Harriers A.C.) pic.twitter.com/K7j8NTNmYE— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) July 16, 2017
It was the second race of note which 15-year-old Sophie won in Ireland this week. On Wednesday evening, she won the IMC women's 800m B race at the Morton Games.
Sunday's result means Sophie is now an U17 champion in both Ireland and Australia.
Back in March, she won both the U17 800m and 1500m titles at the Australian national championships.
Writing in her Irish Times column following her daughter's double win in Sydney, Sonia - who divides her time between Ireland and Australia - said that she has no input into her Sophie's training.
My main role is transport and entertainment and ensuring the priority is enjoyment. And I’m quite happy to sit back and watch things unfold from a distance, and let Sophie decide where the road takes her.
Hopefully, that road leads to her competing in an Irish singlet in the not too distant future.
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Photo by Tomás Greally/Sportsfile
