World Athletic Championship silver medallist Olive Loughnane was honoured by the Evening Echo yesterday in front of her family and friends.

The Coachford-based athlete was presented with the Evening Echo Sports Star of the month award for August by assistant CEO of the Evening Echo Diarmuid O’Donovan. Olive, who heads off to Russia this week was surrounded by family, friends and her backroom team, to which she paid this tribute. “I would like to publicly thank my backroom team for all their help over the years,” Olive said. “The people in this room are very important to me and without your help I could not have done what I did in Berlin. “Ye have been there for me through thick and thin.”

Members of Olive’s backroom team that were present at the luncheon were Mark McManus, Canice Kennedy, Eithen Tiernan, Mary Gleasure, Dr John O’Riordan, Dennis Hennigan and Mark McCarthy. Also present were her husband Martin and their three year-old daughter Eimear. Fellow Irish international walker Rob Heffernan and his young son Cathal were also there to pay tribute to Olive.

Taken from the article in the Evening Echo on Wednesday, September 9, 2009.