Teenage athletic star's unique link to Ireland's greatest Olympian
Freya Renton is pictured receiving the Martin Sheridan Bursary at Aras an Chontae in Castlebar recently. The presentation was one of the last duties performed by outgoing cathaoirleach Cllr John O'Hara. Pictured, from left: Deirdre Finnerty, Senior Executive Officer, Mayo Co Council; Charlie Lambert, Head of Mayo Sports Partnership; Joe O'Neill, Chairperson, Martin Sheridan Bursary Committee; Eddie Jordan, Treasurer, Martin Sheridan Bursary Committee; Freya Renton and her father Bryan Renton; Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Cllr John O'Hara; Cllr Richard Finn; Freya's twin sister Holly; and Joanne Grehan, Director of Services, Mayo County Council. Picture: Conor McKeown
The overall winner of the 2025 Martin Sheridan Bursary Freya Renton is sprinting towards a bright future on the running track.
Unable to make the Bursary presentation in Bohola in mid-June, owing to a well-deserved family holiday, Freya collected her bursary at Mayo County Council's headquarters in Castlebar later in the month, accompanied by her twin sister Holly - who is also a superb athlete - and their dad Brian. Mum Philippa, one of the girl’s coaches alongside Westport’s star triathlete Hilary Hughes, was unable to attend but is no doubt massively proud of the strides Freya and Holly are making.
Speaking to the at the presentation, Freya said she is extremely grateful to the Sheridan Bursary committee and adjudicators for the award.
“It feels great to be the overall winner of the Martin Sheridan Bursary,” Freya said. “This money will go towards supporting my dream and will support me on my journey.”
That aforementioned family holiday was cut short to enable Freya and Holly to compete in yet another high-profile race - none other than the Tailteann Games where they ran for Sacred Heart School in Westport and represented Connacht. Freya said while there was some pressure with the race in mind, she was still able to relax and enjoy the break.
“It is way more relaxed just before a race. We only do light runs before the competition so that fits in well with a holiday. We just try to relax and train with those light runs and do loads of swimming as well,” she said.
Lo and behold, the laps of the pool and the light training paid off as Freya crossed the finish line in first place with Holly shortly behind her. The feeling of victory is familiar for Freya, who has not lost a cross-country race in over six years and counts the Mayo.ie Western People Women’s Mini-Marathon among her many successes.
The sisters have now qualified for the SIAB event taking place in Derby, England and will see the Renton girls competing with the best that England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales has to offer.
Freya followed this up the following weekend by setting a new U16 girls 3,000m championship record with a time of 9:44.0 on Day 1 of the 123.ie National Juvenile Track and Field Championships.
Brian said he and Phillipa are “super proud” of what the girls have achieved from plodding along their first racetrack as toddlers to the Tailteann Games final at SETU Carlow.
“They started at a very young age. From the moment they could walk I used to chase them around the lounge and they used to love the running around,” he said.
“Myself and my wife Phillippa, we met at a running club so there was always a chance some of our children would end up good runners and that’s been the case.”
He said the girls are enjoying the journey and they never want them to feel under any pressure.
“We like to keep it light, even though the girls would probably like to do more sessions. We like to get them involved in other activities like swimming and music,” he said.
Interestingly, there is a link between Freya and Martin Sheridan. Her two great-great-great uncles emigrated from Ireland at the same time as the Bohola native and also worked in the New York Police Department, meaning they likely would have known and worked alongside Martin Sheridan.
Joe O’Neill. from the Martin Sheridan Bursary committee, said the link between Freya Renton and Martin Sheridan was fascinating and the committee was delighted to be able to support young athletes such as her.
“We’re delighted we can be of some assistance to support Freya. What she has achieved so far is mind-boggling and we’d have high hopes she would be following in the footsteps of Ireland’s greatest Olympian Martin Sheridan,” said Joe.
It appears the sky is the limit for Freya Renton on the running track and she said it is a honour to be mentioned in the same breath as top athletes like Ciara Mageean, Ireland’s 2024 European Athletics Championships gold medalist and two-time Olympian.
“After the Tailteann Games, I did a celebration and online a few hours later they compared it to Ciara Mageean,” said Freya. “She was winner at the Tailteann Games too and she is really inspirational to me. Since then, she has been sending us messages and giving us advice, it is amazing.”
