Kilkenny City Harriers athlete Cliodhna Manning talks to Overherd about what it takes to qualify for the Olympics

Getting time off work to compete in the Olympics wasn’t a problem for Cliodhna Manning, Finance Business Analyst Associate at Glanbia Business Services. “Glanbia was very supportive and gave me all the time off that I needed. I didn’t have to use my annual leave, which was great! There was no hesitation there at all, I really appreciated the support,” says Cliodhna, who spent three and a half weeks in Tokyo. Initially, she and the rest of the Irish team stayed in a training camp just outside the city where they got to experience a little Japanese culture. “We had sushi making classes and had an opportunity to interact with Japanese people, who were so lovely. The Olympic Council was very good in making sure our food was much the same as home, but we still got to try a lot of Japanese food over there.” The heat and high level of humidity was something the Irish contingent had to get used to very quickly. “The temperatures were quite high, about 25 or 26 degrees, but it was the humidity that made it really hot. As a sprinter I quite enjoyed it, it’s nice to run in heat but for a distance runner, I think it would be a different story.”

Cliodhna was part of the mixed 400m relay team in a squad of six. Unfortunately, she didn’t get to run on the day but her team performed extremely well, qualifying for the final and smashing the national record by four seconds. “Obviously I would have loved to have ran, it would have topped off the whole experience. I got to warm up with the team and just being there and being part of the whole experience was great.”

The road to the Olympics has been a long and painful one for Cliodhna. In February 2020, a stress fracture that hadn’t healed led to surgery on her foot in London. Before that, three years of injuries prevented her from competing at nationals. “The surgery was a last-ditch effort to see if the injury to my foot could be fixed and thankfully, it seems to have worked. It was a long road to recovery after that; two months in a boot and about seven months not running which is a long time when you’re used to running every day.” Being picked for the Olympics was down to consistent training and the timing being right. “I managed to stay injury free and ended up in quite good shape. I trained hard and followed a plan my coach had carefully put together for me. Everything came together nicely.”

Right now, Cliodhna is taking a well-deserved break before winter training kicks in. “The European Outdoors Championships and the World Championships are due to take place next year, so 2022 will be a busy one. I’m also doing my accountancy exams through Glanbia and I’m looking forward to getting into the office and meeting my colleagues!”