ATHLETICS: Joanne Cuddihy picked up the EBS Young Athlete of the Year award for 2003 yesterday.
She had taken the monthly accolade twice (January and July), so it was fitting that she was recognised for finishing second in the European Junior 400 metres.
The President of Athletics Ireland, Michael Heery, praised the young Kilkenny woman's achievements: "Joanne is a worthy winner of this year's award and is setting a great example for other young athletes in the country. Not only did she break her own personal best last year but she also set a new national (junior) record (52.94 seconds) and her performance to date in 2004 shows great promise."
The awards came into existence in 1981 so the 19-year-old joins some of Ireland's most esteemed track-and-field competitors of recent times. Past winners include middle-distance runners Mark Carroll and James Nolan (twice). Rugby international Victor Costello - a shot putt Olympian in Barcelona - was honoured in 1988.
Cuddihy becomes the fourth woman to win the award; Brigid Corrigan won in 1982, Ciara Sheehy in 1999 and Emily Maher in 2000.
The medal in the Europeans was the highlight of her career thus far, but it didn't come easy. A fault in the starting equipment meant the runners had to wait on the track for almost half an hour. Cuddihy held her nerve.
"But every athlete was out there for that long," she modestly explained. "I think I would have come second no matter what. The thing is, it was boiling hot. We were all parched; we had no water because they had taken our baskets away. The worst thing was they didn't speak English to us so we didn't have a clue what was going on. We were doing the usual, you know, psyching each other out."
You get the impression she was doing much of the psyching out.
Besides being one of the rising stars of Irish athletics, Cuddihy is also a second-year medical student at UCD and runs in the college colours. She has also been lead violin in the Kilkenny Youth Orchestra. To say she is multi-talented is an understatement.
Now, it's all about making it to the Olympics. She has until June to get the required time.
Coach Paddy Fay will not be surprised to see her burning up the track in Athens come August, with the 4x400 metres being the likeliest option.
"Well it will depend on if we get the races and we get the athletes together," says Fay "If they (the relay team) make it, she'll definitely be on it. There is a good chance that she may make the individual. It would be a fantastic feat to run 51.5; I think that's the qualifying time. Her current time is 52.9. She has the potential but whether it comes in time or not is another matter."
Given the Kilkenny context, it's not surprising there is a hurling background. Joanne's father, Bill Cuddihy, was the Kilkenny team doctor, as was his father, Kieran, before him.
It may be on the track, in medicine or even in the concert hall, but Joanne Cuddihy looks set for a bright future. Watch out for her this coming August.
WINNERS: January - Joanne Cuddihy (Kilkenny City Harriers/UCD) 400m February - Daniel Tobin (Clonliffe Harriers) 400m March - Fionnuala Britton (Slí Cualann AC) 1,500m April - Ann Loughnane (Craughwell AC) Walks May - Liz McWilliams (Ballymena & Antrim) 800m June - Ciarán O'Connell (Glaslough Harriers) 800m July - Joanne Cuddihy 400m August - Colin Costello (Star of the Sea) 800/1,500m September - Erin Kinnear (Lagan Valley AC) Pole vault October - Eoin Leen (Clounalour AC) Shot November - Azmera Gebrezgi (Celtic AC) Cross-country December - Mark Christie (Mullingar Harriers) 3,000/5,000m.
