Cork City Sports Athlete of the Month of April 2021 - Aoife Cooke
Aoife Cooke is Cork City Sports Athlete of the Month for April 2021
River Lee Hotel
Friday June 4th 2021
Aoife Cooke, Eagle AC, is Cork City Sports Athlete of the Month for April 2021 - Photo: Tony O'Connell Photography
The award was presented to Aoife at a function at the River Lee hotel, on Friday June 4th 2021
The Cork City Sports Athlete of the Month Award is sponsored by 96FM/C103FM, The Echo, The River Lee, Cork Crystal and Leisureworld
Cork City Sports - Awards Archive
The Cork City Sports Athlete of the Month of April 2021 is Aoife Cooke, Eagle AC - Photo: Tony O'Connell Photography
Cork City Sports Athletics Person of the Month - April 2021 - Award Citation
Aoife Cooke (Eagle AC) is the April recipient of the Cork City Sports Athlete of the Month.
After a prolonged spell without competition, due lockdown restrictions, Aoife fulfilled a lifetime's ambition by securing a qualification standard for the Olympic Marathon to be held in Japan this summer.
Her time at the Cheshire Elite Marathon in the UK was 2:28:36 which was a comforable one minute inside the Olympic Marathon qualifying time, and moves her to 4th in the All-Time list of Irish Marathon performances
Excerpt from Article by John Walshe
"The story of that brilliant performance at the Cheshire Marathon in April can be seen below and speaking at the presentation at The River Lee Hotel, the Eagle AC athlete expressed her delight at receiving the monthly award for the third time: “I received one in 2016, when I won the All-Ireland novice cross-country, and then I got it in October 2019, when I became the National Marathon champion.
“But I suppose the pinnacle of the sports of athletics is to have made it to the Olympics, so that’s a huge deal for me. The last year or year-and-a-half everything was uncertain, with all the races cancelled and everything like that, so it feels like it was a long time coming, so it was a huge relief, and a huge joy, when I crossed the finish line and got the time.”
After a few weeks of recovery, Aoife is now back in full training and leaves, on Sunday next, for an extended period of preparation in the USA at Kaysville, Utah. “It’s at 7,000 feet and my coach coaches a number of people over there, so I’ll link in with them. I won’t race between now and the Olympics, I’ll just focus on the training.”
No doubt it will be good for Aoife to get away, as since her Cheshire triumph, she has been much in demand. “Yes, we celebrated to the extent that we are allowed to at the moment, I went back home to Youghal and did my quarantine there, and they had a little cake and a few celebratory drinks,” she explained.
Apart from a Sport Ireland grant, Aoife is entirely self-funded, so she was delighted to receive some recent sponsorship. “Coming up to Cheshire I suppose I was by myself, but now I’m receiving a nice bit of help from the people of Cork and the people of Youghal.
“The Youghal Business Alliance gave me a little bit of funding, as did Youghal Credit Union, and then Ger Flanagan, who used to coach me in Youghal, is helping me out as well, as I’m now an ambassador for Boardwalk Coffee.”
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Aoife Cooke Runs 55:17 in Mallow 10 2019 – Guest Article by John Walshe
Youghal AC's Aoife Cooke Takes First Senior Woman Place in Lisbon Half-Marathon 2018
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