World Silver medallist Olive Loughnane renewed her rivalry with Hong Liu at the Dublin International Grand Prix event in the Phoenix Park at the weekend.
Loughnane relegated Liu to third place in the World Championships 20km in Berlin two years ago, although this time the Chinese woman got her revenge with a comprehensive victory in 1:29.44, some 34 seconds slower than she recorded in Berlin.
Loughnane made her battle all the way before she was forced to give ground before finishing second in 1:31.53, with Amy Amarilis Franco Nunez of Guatemala third.
In the men’s 20km Robert Heffernan was forced to drop out with a hamstring injury after only 6km, with China’s Zhen Wang winning in 1:19.46, just 23 seconds ahead of Tunisia’s Hassanine Sbei.
