Olivia Breen
Olivia "Livvy" Breen (born 26 July 1996) is a Welsh Paralympian athlete, who competes mainly in T38 sprint and F38 long jump events. In 2012, she qualified for the 2012 Summer Paralympics, selected for the T38 100m and 200m sprint and is also part of the T35-38 women's relay team. She has also represented Wales at both the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games, winning gold in the long jump at the Gold Coast games in 2018.[1][2]
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Olivia Grace Helena Breen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | Livvy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 26 July 1996 Guildford, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Great Britain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | T38 sprint and F38 long jump | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | City of Portsmouth | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo/Julie Hollman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Paralympic finals | 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest world ranking | T38 100m: 2nd T38 200m: 3rd | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | 100m sprint: 13.34 secs 200m sprint: 28.07 secs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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History
Breen was born in Guildford, England, to a Welsh mother and Scottish father. Breen, who has cerebral palsy, began racing while still at primary school.[3] Breen was given her T38 classification in January 2012, allowing her to be brought into contention for Paralympic selection.[4] In June 2012 she competed in the IPC Athletics European Championships in Stadskanaal in the Netherlands, winning the bronze in both the 100m and 200m sprints.[5] She recorded a personal best in the 100m at the European championships, and followed this with a personal best in the 200m sprint at the Diamond League meet at Crystal Palace, London early in July.[5] Her times resulted in a late call up to the Great Britain team for the 2012 Summer Paralympics. She was the youngest member of the Great Britain Paralympic athletics team during the 2012 Games.[5]
2012 Paralympic Games in London
Breen competed in London in the T38 100m and 200m sprints, and the first leg of the T35-38 women's relay team.
100m: Breen came fifth in the 100m final with a time of 14.42. The winning time was posted by Margarita Goncharova at 13.45s.[6]
200m: After qualifying as the second fastest runner up, Breen came in eighth in the 200m final with a time of 30.22s.
4 × 100 m relay: Breen (who ran the first leg of the relay final) won a bronze medal with team mates Jenny McLoughlin, Bethy Woodward and Katrina Hart[7] with a time of 56.08s[8] which was a season's best. The final baton change between Hart and McLoughlin was poor as a result of a bump from the Australian athlete in the next lane but the team was judged to have correctly handed the baton moments before the last team member exited the hand-over zone, while in the same race two opposing teams were disqualified, one being the Australian team.
2013 IPC World Championships in Lyon
Breen finished fifth in both the 100m and 200m in Lyon at the IPC World Championships.
2014
Breen switched from sprints to compete in the long jump for Wales at the Commonwealth Games finishing narrowly out of the medals in seventh place.
The teenager then went on to compete at the IPC European Championships where she won individual bronze in the 100m behind teammate Sophie Hahn and Russia's Margarita Goncharova just a few months after recording a new personal best over the distance – 13.47.
Breen then ran the second leg of the T35-38 relay team, which included Bethany Woodward, Sophie Hahn and Jenny McLoughlin. The team went on to win silver behind Russia in a new British record of 53.84.
Other
Breen is coached at Lee Valley by Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo (sprints) and Julie Hollman (jumps).
References
- "Breen hoping for a double celebration at Commonwealth Games", The News, 6 July 2014 Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 July 2014
- Henson, Mike (8 April 2018). "Commonwealth Games: Nick Miller and Olivia Breen win gold medals". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- "Olivia Breen". paralympics.org.uk. Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
- McMahin, Mark (11 July 2012). "Breen is fast-tracked to Games". portsmouth.co.uk. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
- "Olivia Breen". thepowerof10.info. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
- "London 2012 Official Results". Archived from the original on 6 September 2012.
- "Welsh Sprinters earn Bronze". Retrieved 6 September 2012.
- "London 2012 Official Results". Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
External links
- Results for Olivia Breen from the International Paralympic Committee (archived)