We stay out West for the latest instalment of our Next Generation series, this time shining the spotlight on a young woman who was practically born into the world of elite sport. At just 15 years old, Savanagh O’Callaghan of Tuam AC has already achieved more than many athletes twice her age, and her story is as much about legacy as it is about personal ambition.
Coached by her father Pierce O’Callaghan, a former Irish international, and three-time Olympian Jamie Costin, Savanagh’s life has always revolved around athletics. And it’s no exaggeration to say she’s been immersed in it from the very start.
“I attended my first Olympic Games in Beijing 2008 at five months old! My mother Tamara was working for the IOC and my father was an IAAF Judge,” she recalls. “I was also at the London 2012 Olympics when I was four years old, and I was in Berlin in 2009 when Bolt set the world records for 100m and 200m.”
With a start like that, it’s hardly surprising that athletics would play a central role in her life. And 2023 proved to be a landmark year.
Savanagh was crowned SIAB International Schools Champion in the 3000m Race Walk and took gold at the All-Ireland Schools Intermediate Championships in the 2000m Race Walk. She dominated domestically too, claiming the Tailteann Games 3000m title and becoming both the All-Ireland U16 Indoor and Outdoor Champion.
Her consistency didn’t go unnoticed. She was named Athlete of the Meeting at the International Schools Championships and voted Mercy Tuam’s Sports Star of the Year for 2023.
Even more remarkably, she secured three podium finishes in World Athletics Race Walking Tour events, despite competing three years out of her age group.
Athletics runs deep in the O’Callaghan family. Her grandfather, Bernie O’Callaghan, won seven Irish senior titles in the 1970s and represented Ireland internationally. Her father Pierce proudly carried that legacy forward in the late 1990s. Now, the third generation is stepping confidently into the spotlight.
But Savanagh’s sporting talents aren’t limited to race walking. Off the track, she’s represented the Galway camogie team at U14 and U16 level, scoring in every match she played. She’s also a key player for the Tuam football team, who went unbeaten from U10 right through to U16.
Back in the athletics arena, she’s vice-captain of Tuam AC and a regular at the Galway Race Walking Squad, where she trains alongside up to 40 walkers on any given weekend.
Fresh from an Athletics Ireland Warm Weather Training Camp in Portugal, Savanagh has a packed schedule of ambitions for 2024.
She’s already tantalisingly close to the European U18 Championships qualification standard, having clocked 25:34 over 5K in December — just four seconds off the mark. Her goals include medalling at the National U20 and Senior Indoors, making her 10km debut in Slovakia in March, defending her All-Ireland U17 Indoor and Outdoor crowns, and pushing for a top-eight finish at the European U18 Championships.
Above all, she’s determined to stay healthy, keep improving, and continue enjoying the sport she’s loved since before she could walk.
With personal bests already of 15:05 for 3K and 25:26 for 5K, the future looks incredibly bright for this rising star. And here at Run Republic, we can’t wait to see where 2024 takes her. Whatever comes next, you can be sure Savanagh O’Callaghan will make her coaches, her club, and her school — High Cross College, Tuam — immensely proud.
