Eileen O'Keeffe

Eileen O'Keeffe (born 31 May 1981) is an Irish former hammer thrower. Her personal best throw of 73.21 metres, achieved in July 2007 at the national championships in Dublin, is the Irish record for the event. Over her career, she represented Ireland at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, competed three times at the World Championships in Athletics (2005, 2007, 2009), and took part in the European Athletics Championships on two occasions. She won nine consecutive national hammer titles and also six titles in the discus throw.

She finished fourth at the 2003 Summer Universiade, sixth at the 2005 Summer Universiade, won the silver medal at the 2007 Summer Universiade and finished sixth at the 2007 World Championships. She also competed at the 2002 European Championships, the 2005 World Championships, the 2006 European Championships and the 2008 Olympic Games without reaching the final.

In a January 2008 interview on RTÉ's The Panel, O'Keeffe said that she learned the sport from a Hal Connolly DVD her brother bought from a pound shop.

She retired from competition in 2011 at the age of 29, having failed to return to form following a serious knee injury. 2001 European U23 Championships Amsterdam, Netherlands 17th (q) 57.08 m 2002 European Championships Munich, Germany 30th (q) 59.64 m

European U23 Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 15th (q) 59.64 m Universiade Daegu, South Korea 4th 62.96 m

World Championships Helsinki, Finland 24th (q) 64.09 m Universiade İzmir, Turkey 6th 67.61 m 2006 European Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 17th (q) 65.07 m

Universiade Bangkok, Thailand

68.46 m World Championships Osaka, Japan 6th 70.93 m 2008 Olympic Games Beijing, China 23rd (q) 67.66 m

Universiade Belgrade, Serbia 9th 66.97 m World Championships Berlin, Germany 35th (q) 63.20 m