IRISH RACE WALKER

FOCUSED – DETERMINED – ARTICULATE – INSPIRATIONAL

Brendan started race walking when he was 12 years of age and at his first ever All-Ireland Nationals Competition he finished 6th. Brendan continued his training in race walking and other various sports and holds All-Ireland medals in cross country, volleyball, table tennis and race walking.

After completing his leaving certificate, Brendan went onto study Physiology and Health Science in Carlow Institute of Technology. He focused hard on his third level studies and attained a Higher Certificate as well as earning a place to study physiotherapy at the University of Coventry, UK.

At the age of 20, Brendan moved to Coventry where he was introduced to Andi Drake (National Race Walking Coach UK) who reignited his passion for athletics and in 2008 continued a more rigorous training schedule whilst studying a degree in Sports Performance at Leeds Metropolitan University.

In the summer of 2011 Brendan graduated with an Honors degree in Sport Performance and three months later achieved his dream of qualifying for the Olympics taking place following year.

After his historic performance in London (finishing 26th) at the 2012 Olympics, Brendan began to work with Rob Heffernan (Former World Champion & Olympic Bronze Medallist) and made a strategic move to County Cork. Brendan trained under the guidance of Heffernan for the 2013 season and produced PB’s in four different categories including the 50km in Moscow at the World Championships where Brendan finished 25th.

2016 was a great year for Brendan’s athletic career where he placed 19th in the Rio Olympic Games. Brendan then went on to finish 6th in the World Championships in Doha in 2019 and qualified for Tokyo 2020.

In Toyko 2020 Brendan battled through nauseating fatigue and viciously oppressive heat in Sapporo, to finish a truly terrific 10th in the 50km race walk.

2022 will be another big year of competition for Brendan where he will compete in the World Athletics Championships in Oregon USA and the European Athletics Championships in Munich Germany.