Event: Marathon
Who is she? A 29-year-old Blackrock-born marathon runner who was brought up in Hamsphire.
She is based in Loughborough University and coached by acclaimed trainer Ray Treacy.
Hutchinson has won the 2011 Irish half marathon and cross-country events, and with a time of 2:35.33 in Houston last January, she is currently the fastest Irish woman in her category at the Olympics.
Road to London: Hutchison qualified with aplomb, securing a personal best of 2:35:33 in this morning’s Houston Marathon, which was 90 seconds inside the Olympic A qualification time of 2:37:00.
What she says about herself: “My goal [at the Olympics] is to run a personal best time and with that, to be as competitive as possible” – The Running Review.
Medal chances? You get the sense that she’s aiming for a personal best and a respectable position, and that a medal may be beyond her reach. But given that she’s the fastest of the female marathon runners to have qualified, she arguably represents Ireland’s best hope of a medal at the event. However, Jimmy is being cruel, as usual.
If you meet her in a bar, ask her about… working with Chris Tarrant. She was a researcher on the Late Late Show, before working on the show ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ for ten years.
On the Twitter: Ava does not appear to be on Twitter unfortunately.
If she was a YouTube video, she’d be… Road Runner for obvious reasons. Her dastardly opponents are consequently the equivalent of the Wile E Coyote character, constantly trying and failing to catch her.
YouTube credit: 44444444juujujjjjjjj
This is a fantastic series. I’ve lived abroad for 12 years and have really only caught Irish olympians by chance. This has given me a chance to schedule my viewing around our atheletes. Bravo. P.S. Is the whole series to be found as a block on this site?
Hi Adrian. Thanks for the kind words. If you click on the “Read more of TheScore’s “London 2012: Introducing” series here>” link at the bottom of the piece, I think you’ll find what you’re looking for.