Gillian O’Sullivan competed in the women’s 20 kilometres race walk at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, finishing 10th – the first female Olympian from Kerry.

She was attracted to race walking as a schoolgirl, began competing aged 11 and earned her first national recognition aged 13, going on to become one of the most dominant walkers in Irish athletics history across a career that spanned from 1994 to 2007.

Nicknamed “The Firewoman” for her red hair, she was coached throughout by Michael Lane and was a member of Farranfore Maine Valley AC and UCC AC. Her finest seasons came in 2002 and 2003 – in February 2002 she set a world indoor record for the 3,000 metres walk in Belfast, and in July 2002 broke the world outdoor record for the 5,000 metres walk in Dublin in 20:02.60, a mark the IAAF declined to ratify due to technical certification issues with the course.

She finished 4th at the 2002 European Championships and won the inaugural IAAF Race Walking Challenge title in 2003. At the 2003 World Championships in Paris she won silver in the 20km walk – the first Irish athlete to win a medal in the walk at an Athletics Championship, and Ireland’s first World Championship medal in any event since 1995.

An injury sustained in the build-up to Athens 2004 prevented her from competing at those Games, denying her a strong medal chance. She holds every Irish record at distances from 3km to 20km. She retired in April 2007 and subsequently worked as a personal trainer.