Sophie O'Sullivan picked up the biggest win of her career so far as she stormed to victory in the NCAA 1,500m title at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday evening.
The 23-year-old was competing in her final ever race for the University of Washington in Seattle, and having finished 12th in this event for the past two seasons, the daughter of Olympic legend Sonia O'Sullivan wasted no time in asserting her dominance.
Hitting the front with two laps to go, Sophie never looked back and raced to victory on the biggest night of collegiate athletics in America. She clocked an impressive time of 4:07.94, finishing off with a stunning final lap of 58.43 to complete the famous win.
With that win, O'Sullivan becomes just the fifth Irish woman in history to win an NCAA title, following in the footsteps of her mother Sonia (1990 and 1991), Valerie McGovern (1990), Mary Cullen (2006) and Rhasidat Adeleke (2023).
“Pretty f*****g happy” was her response when asked to sum up her emotions, reports the Irish Independent.
“I was just trying to hold my position on the inside lane and not let everyone box me out and trying to find a way out,” she said when asked about the race.
On her future plans, O'Sullivan said: “My visa’s up so I’ve got to leave America soon, I’m going to fly to London and go from there. We’ll see.”
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