In April, Shanahan was representing Cambridge in the Varsity match. One month later, she was breaking the Irish national 800m record in Belfast with a time of 1:59.42, becoming only the second Irish woman in history to run under two minutes. In July, she raced in the World Championships in Oregon, and just three weeks ago she qualified for the 800m final in the European Championships in Munich.

Shanahan joined me via Zoom to reflect on a period stacked with success. Having competed at the Tokyo Olympics last year, an event heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, I asked what was different about the championships in Munich.

Unsurprisingly, a stadium full of supporters — some of whom were family and friends — made for a positive change: “Yes, I am the only one who stands on the start line and it is an individual sport, but there are so many people behind me who have done so much to get me to the place that I am,” Shanahan told me, “it’s really nice for them to be able to watch me race.” Shanahan is also keen to emphasise the role of her training groups in Cambridge and to her coach, Phil O’Dell, for helping this year top the previous.

I have learnt that with hard work, with consistent work and the right support that anything is possible

Focusing on the 800m final itself, Shanahan joked about the rainy conditions: “A lot of the races on the circuit are in warm countries,” she pointed out, “some people said to me, you’ll be right at home, but I was thinking I can’t remember the last time I ran in the rain.” It wasn’t just the weather Shanahan had to compete with, but the other runners, too. Not least 20 year-old Brit and eventual winner, Keely Hodgkinson, herself a student in Criminology at the University of Leeds Beckett University: “It was a very high-quality field, Keely [Hodgkinson] is obviously the Olympic silver medallist, so it was an amazing experience and hopefully one I can get back into soon.”

I asked Louise how competing in the final ranked amongst her career achievements: “I still think that qualifying for the Olympics is my best achievement, but qualifying for the games was a long process, and there was no single moment where I was like, okay, now I’m qualified,” she explained. “In terms of the highs of my career, the European final, when I saw that I had the big Q and that I was into the final, that was a big moment in time.”

Breaking the Irish record earlier in the year was a major milestone, too. “As much as breaking the Irish record, to run sub-two minutes for 800 had been a goal of mine for as long as I remember,” she told me proudly, “when I was growing up no Irish girl had broken two minutes.” Now she has done it herself. Despite these achievements, it has not all been plain sailing this summer: “Running is a complete rollercoaster,” Shanahan told me. She tested positive for Covid prior to the World Championships, and anxiety about her fitness lingered up until the Europeans: “Ten days before I would have been saying, I’m not sure what sort of shape I’m in, I’m not sure if I should be going to these championships.” In the end, she did go: “I have learnt that with hard work, with consistent work and the right support that anything is possible.”

I have the Irish record now, but I don’t see why I can’t run any faster

Shanahan reminisced animatedly about standing next to 28 year old French athlete Rénelle Lamote, silver medallist on the day, on the starting line in Munich: “I remember watching her in the last European Championships in 2018. It’s really crazy to go from having people that you idolise when you were younger to then saying I now need to compete against them, and to genuinely believe that I’m capable of beating them”.

Will Shanahan eventually be the Lamotte to another up-and-coming athlete in years to come? “I think there is a lot of improving I can still do” she explained, “I have the Irish record now, but I don’t see why I can’t run any faster”. In March next year she hopes to run at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul, before the next World Championships take place in Budapest in the summer: “I plan to become consistent with my top-quality performances, to run faster, and to qualify for more events like the Diamond League. Exposing myself to a higher quality of competition more regularly will definitely help.”

For now, Shanahan returns to Cambridge for training and her PhD. Perhaps the mundanity of everyday life will come as relief after running in front of thousands of people, and breaking national records. But it won’t be long before Shanahan competes again, looking for medals and more records.

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