IRISH sport has a new golden girl after Clarinbridge native Katie O’Brien obliterated the field to capture the PR2 Single Sculls title at the World Rowing Championships in Czechia (formerly the Czech Republic) last weekend.

O’Brien had more than 10 seconds to spare over four-time Paralympian, Kathryn Ross from Australia, who finished second, as she took her place in an elite group of Irish women to be crowned world champion.

She now joins the likes of fellow Galwegians Olive Loughnane (20k walk) and Clodagh Foley (Unified Fighting); athletes Sonia O’Sullivan and Derval O’Rourke; fellow rowers Sinead Lynch and Sanita Puspure; and boxers Katie Taylor, Kellie Harrington, Amy Broadhurst and Lisa O’Rourke on the list of Irish women who proved they are the very best in the world at their chosen discipline by winning a world title.

The preliminary race was held on Monday,September 29, with O’Brien coming home second in the four-boat race, almost 22 seconds behind Ross in a time of 9mins 47.38 seconds, with Ukraine’s Anna Aisanova third; and Jennifer Fitz-Roy of the US, the PR2 world record holder over 6k and half marathon on the static ergo rowing machine, in fourth.

It was a very different story for the top two in the final last Friday however, with O’Brien knocking more than 22 seconds off her preliminary race time as Ross just could not live with the pace being set from the very first stroke by the Galway woman.

After just 100 metres of the 2,000m race, the 26-year-old Galway star was already a half a length up on Ross in what were flat conditions, and by the 500m mark, the gap was 3.3 seconds. O’Brien continued a punishing stroke rate in a hugely impressive display, and by the half-way mark, she had opened a gap of 6.86 seconds.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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