Sophie Becker (born 16 May 1997) is an Irish sprinter specialising in the 400 m. She represented Ireland at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

and

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and won a silver medal 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 ...

with the women's 4 x 400 metres relay team, which set a new Irish national record.

Early life and education

Becker is from Ballykelly in County Wexford where she competed in underage

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

for

Horeswood GAA Horeswood GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association club in County Wexford, Ireland. The club fields teams in Gaelic football, hurling, camogie and Ladies Gaelic football, and participates in competitions organized by Wexford GAA county board. Their ...

. She later attended St Mary's Secondary School in

New Ross New Ross (, formerly ) is a town in southwest County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, on the River Barrow on the border with County Kilkenny, northeast of Waterford. In 2022, it had a population of 8,610, making it the fourth-largest t ...

. She graduated with a degree in genetics and cell biology from

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) () is a Third-level education in the Republic of Ireland, university based on the Northside, Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Highe ...

Career

She competed in the women's 400 metres event at the

2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held from 4 to 7 March 2021 at the Arena Toruń in Toruń, Poland. This was the second time this event was held in Poland after the 1975 edition in Katowice. The four-day competition featured ...

. She took part in the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay event at the delayed

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. She was part of the Irish women's relay team that qualified for the final of the women's 4x400m relay in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

at the

2023 World Athletics Championships The 2023 World Athletics Championships (), the nineteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships, were held from 19 to 27 August 2023 at the National Athletics Centre (Budapest), National Athletics Centre, in Budapest, Hungary. The tourna ...

. She ran at the

2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships The 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships was the 19th edition of the international indoor track and field competition, organised by the World Athletics. The event was held between 1–3 March at the Commonwealth Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velod ...

as part of the Irish 4×400m relay team which reached the final in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. She ran as part of the Irish 4x400m relay team at the 2024 World Relays Championships in

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of The Bahamas. It is on the island of New Providence, which had a population of 246,329 in 2010, or just over 70% of the entire population of The Bahamas. As of April 2023, the preliminary results of ...

. She finished third in the 400 metres at the

2024 BAUHAUS-galan The 2024 BAUHAUS-galan was the 58th edition of the annual outdoor track and field meeting in Stockholm, Sweden. Held on 2 June at Stockholm Olympic Stadium Stockholm Olympic Stadium (), most often called Stockholms stadion or (especially loca ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

on 2 June 2024. She was selected for the Ireland team for the

to run the individual 400 metres and the relay. The women's 4×400m relay team qualified fastest for the final, with the team before ultimately going on to win the silver medal in a national record time of 3:22.71. Later that month, she won the Irish Championships 400 metres title in Dublin. In July 2024, she qualified for the individual 400 metres at the

2024 Paris 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 ...

. She also competed in the

women's A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

and mixed 4×400m relay at the Games. She was selected for the Irish relay pool for the

2025 World Athletics Relays The 2025 World Athletics Relays was held at the Guangdong Olympic Stadium in Guangzhou, China on 10 and 11 May 2025. It was the 7th edition of the World Athletics Relays and the first time the event was held in China. The 2025 edition was the ...

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

, China in May 2025, where they failed to make it to the finals.

References

External links

* 1997 births Living people Irish female sprinters Olympic athletes for Ireland Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics People from Wexford, County Wexford 21st-century Irish sportswomen Athletes from County Wexford Alumni of Dublin City University Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics {{Ireland-athletics-bio-stub