Jodie McCann (born 3 February 2000) is an Irish long distance runner. In 2024, she became national champion over

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

Early life

From

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, she took up athletics at the age of nine years-old. She mostly competed in

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...

until she was 17 years-old. She attended

Rathdown School Rathdown School is an independent day and boarding school in Glenageary, Dublin, Ireland operating under the management of a charitable trust and with a Protestant but inclusive ethos. For most of its history an all-girls school, it became co-ed ...

and won national age group titles and received scholarship offers to study in the United States, but opted to study primary school teaching at the DCU Institute of Education, graduating in 2022.

Career

In December 2018, she competed in the U20 competition at the

2018 European Cross Country Championships The 2018 European Cross Country Championships was the 25th edition of the cross country running competition for European athletes. It was hosted in Tilburg, Netherlands.Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

. In November 2019, she won the Irish U20 cross country title. She was subsequently the first placed Irish U20 runner at the

2019 European Cross Country Championships The 2019 European Cross Country Championships is the 26th edition of the European Cross Country Championships. It was held 8 December 2019, hosted by Lisbon, Portugal. It was the third occasion that Portugal has hosted the championships. Medal s ...

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, Portugal. Running for Dublin City Harriers, she was the leading Irish woman finishing fourth at the Northern Ireland International Cross-Country and Bobby Rea Cross-Country, held in

Dundonald Dundonald may refer to: Places Canada * Dundonald, Ontario, Cramahe * Dundonald, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan * Dundonald Park, in Ottawa South Africa * Dundonald, Mpumalanga United Kingdom * Dundonald, County Down, Northern Ireland ** Dundonald ...

in October 2022. In August 2023, she trained for a few months with the On Athletics Club Oceania in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, coached by former world 5,000m medallist

Craig Mottram Craig Mottram (born 18 June 1980) is a former Australian long and middle-distance runner who specialised in the 5000 metre event. Early years Mottram was born on 18 June 1980 in Frankston, Victoria. He attended Geelong Grammar School. Care ...

. In February 2024, she set new 1,500m and 5,000m personal bests, running 4:08.34 for the 1500 metres in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, and 15:35.04 for the 5000 metres in Melbourne. In April 2024, she lowered her 5,000m personal best to 15:30.20 in

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

, Japan. She was selected to represent Ireland in the 5000 metres at the

2024 European Athletics Championships The 26th European Athletics Championships were held from 7 to 12 June 2024 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. It was the third time Italy staged this sporting event after the inaugural 1934 European Athletics Championships, 1934 edition in T ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, placing seventeenth overall. That month, she lowered her personal best over 5000 metres again, to 15:20.93 in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

. She won the 5000 metres title at the Irish Championships in Dublin in June 2024, running a time of 15:44.80. She competed in the 5000 metres at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in August 2024. She was selected for the Irish team for the

2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held from 6 to 9 March 2025 at the Omnisport Apeldoorn arena in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. The four-day competition features thirteen men's, thirteen women's and one mixed athletics events over t ...

Apeldoorn Apeldoorn (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. The municipality of Apeldoorn, including the villages of Beekbergen, Loenen (Apeldoorn), Loenen, Ugchelen and Hoenderloo ...

, where she ran in the 3000 metres race.

Personal life

Her mother was born in Australia and she has dual nationality. Her mother was a fitness instructor and her father a competitive swimmer. Her brother

Luke McCann Luke McCann (born 12 March 1998) is an Irish middle distance track and field athlete from Glenageary, Dublin who specialises in the 1500 metres. He represented Ireland at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He holds two Irish records over 1000 metres. Care ...

is also an international runner.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCann, Jodie 2000 births Living people Sportspeople from Dublin (city) Irish female middle-distance runners Irish female long-distance runners Athletes from County Dublin Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Ireland 21st-century Irish sportswomen