Sharon Foley
{{short description|Irish former track and field athlete|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name = Sharon Gallen
née Foley
| image =
| caption =
| nationality = Irish
| sport = Athletics
| event = high jump
| club = Lifford A.C.
| birth_date = 20 May 1972
| birth_place = Lifford, County Donegal, Ireland
| death_date =
| death_place =
| height =
| weight =
| pb =
| medaltemplates=
}}
Sharon Gallen ({{IPAc-en|'|g|æ|l|ən}} {{respell|GAL|ən}}; {{née|Foley}}; born 20 May 1972) is an Irish former track and field athlete who specialised in the high jump. She also competed in the triple jump, pentathlon and heptathlon. A winner of 22 Irish national titles, she competed in the high jump at the 1993 World Championships.
Career
Born in Lifford, County Donegal, Foley was a member of Lifford A.C.. In the high jump, she was outdoor national champion in 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997 and 2001. She was also indoor champion in 1990, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2003. Foley was national Pentathlon champion from 1993 to 1995. In 2001, she won both the high jump and triple jump events at the Norwich Union British Grand Prix at Crystal Palace.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/low/northern_ireland/1451783.stm |title=McIlroy's struggles continue |accessdate=2008-02-04 |work=BBC Sport | date=22 July 2001}}
Foley finished second behind Debbie Marti in the high jump event at the 1993 AAA Championships.{{cite web|url=https://www.nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=31 March 2025}}{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/waaa.htm |title=AAA Championships (women) |website=GBR Athletics |access-date=31 March 2025 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002192/19930717/026/0026 |title=Panasonic AAA Championships |work=Sports Argus |date=17 July 1993 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=31 March 2025 }}
Foley holds the Women's Senior Irish National Record for the Heptathlon with 5394 points, achieved in Hemel Hempstead on 23 and 24 August 1997. Her personal best (and second in the Irish all-time records) in the high jump is 1.88m.{{cite web | url = http://www.athleticsireland.ie/statistics/Alltime%20Women.htm | title = List of All Time Best Performances, Women, IRELAND | accessdate = 2013-07-07 | publisher = athleticsireland.ie | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20100114155605/http://www.athleticsireland.ie/statistics/Alltime%20Women.htm | archivedate = 2010-01-14 }} set in Rotterdam, Netherlands on 13 June 1993. Foley also holds second in the Irish all-time records for the triple Jump with a distance of 12.49 set in Lappeenranta, Finland on 21 June 2003. Her biggest achievement was her representation for Ireland at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart where she competed in the high jump.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}
Foley is now retired and married to Martin Gallen, with two children.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}
International competitions
| {{AchievementTable|Event=yes}} |
| 1989
|European Junior Championships |Varaždin, Yugoslavia |15th (q) |high jump |1.65 m |
| 1990
|European Indoor Championships |Glasgow, United Kingdom |17th |high jump |1.75 m |
| 1993
|Stuttgart, Germany |34th (q) |high jump |1.75 m |
| colspan=6| (q) Indicates overall position in qualifying round |
|---|
National titles
=Irish Championships=
- High jump outdoors (1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2001){{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/nc/irl.htm |work=GBR Athletics |title=Irish Republic Championships |accessdate=21 April 2018}}
- High jump indoors (1990, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2003){{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/nc/irli.htm |work=GBR Athletics |title=Irish Republic Indoor Championships |accessdate=21 April 2018}}
- Heptathlon outdoors (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003)
- Pentathlon indoors (1993, 1994, 1995)
- Triple jump outdoors (2001)
- Triple jump indoors (2002, 2003)
=Scottish Championships=
- High jump outdoors (1997){{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/sco.htm |work=GBR Athletics |title=Scottish Championships |accessdate=21 April 2018}}
- High jump indoors (1998){{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/scoi.htm|work=GBR Athletics |title=Scottish Indoor Championships |accessdate=21 April 2018}}
- Triple jump outdoors (2001)
- Pentathlon indoors (2003)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080807165531/http://www.irishrunner.com/aaimulti02.html Great Performance by Sharon Foley Gallen, Tir Chonaill AC Dominate National Relays]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, Sharon}}
Category:Athletes from County Donegal
Category:Irish female triple jumpers