ATHLETICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: THE BRANDENBURG Gate has been the scene of some remarkable moments in world history and who could have thought it would leave such an indelible mark on Irish athletics.

The sight of Olive Loughnane coming under the famous Doric columns to claim the silver medal in the 20km walk at these World Championships will be remembered for several reasons, most of all because the 33-year-old mother delivered the sort of commanding performance no one here truly predicted. Except, that is, for Loughnane herself.

It was 31 degrees and incredibly crowded around the old gate in the heart of Berlin as Loughnane went about the business of writing her own little piece of history; only the fifth ever medal Ireland has won at these championships.

The scene will always set it apart. By the time she’d entered the last of the 2km loops up and down the Unter den Linden – the long boulevard of linden trees – Loughnane was safe in second place, with only Russia’s reigning World and Olympic champion Olga Kaniskina getting the better of her, and China’s Hong Liu leading the chase. Race walking, however, is notoriously unpredictable, mainly because they’re often one step way away from disqualification. So Loughnane ploughed on, head down, arms driving, and didn’t let up until she was on Pariser Platz for the final time, then through the victory gate, into the old West Berlin.

It’s the first time these events have been staged outside the main stadium and what an inspired decision that proved to be.

The atmosphere at the finish was more like a German beer festival, some seriously raucous applause. For all Loughnane cared it could have been the back road into Loughrea. When you’re in the zone there’s no time to take in the sights.

“Sorry lads, I’d no notion of the setting out there,” she said.

“Maybe I’ll come back and have a look at the place tomorrow. I didn’t even think about a medal at any point. I was just focused on myself. I tried not to focus on the process. The worst thing that can happen is that you get carried away, because it is such a technical event. I could easily end up losing control.

“Even going into the last lap I didn’t know I had silver. The Chinese girl was very quiet beside me. I’d think I had her dropped, then I’d look again and she’d be still there. I didn’t realise I was actually getting faster.

“It was also getting hotter. I suppose she could only take so much.”

In the end Loughnane had 12 seconds to spare on Liu, walking a season’s best of 1:28.58. Kaniskina, who looked every bit the winner right from the start, took the gold in 1:28.09. It’s tempting to say she ran away with it, but the 24-year-old Russian really was in a class of her own.

At 33, Loughnane may be some ways older but she’s been gradually working towards this moment, and finishing seventh at the Beijing Olympics last year ultimately convinced her what was possible here. “I always know I’m strong towards the end. I’d the fastest second 10km in Beijing last year, and I wasn’t going to let that go to waste here, without bringing something home.

“At one stage it got a bit scary, when about five people had gone on ahead of me. I just kept working. Pushing, pushing. I didn’t even realise there were people around me.

“I was just focused on pushing as hard as I could. But last year was the bar. And I knew I was stronger again.”

Loughnane certainly finished strong, having put herself in a medal position from just past halfway, yet she still had the energy to jump into the arms of her husband, Martin.

Their three-year-old daughter, Eimear, was been cared for by his parents back home in Cork, and Loughnane – a native of Loughrea – had brought plenty other support to Berlin.

Her father Mat and brother Brendan then jumped over the barriers onto area in front of the gate to congratulate her. Coincidentally, that was the old fortified death strip that ran just west of the gate, and 20 years ago a move like that would have got them shot.

Ireland’s previous four medals in these championships have been spread over 26 years; Eamonn Coghlan’s gold in 1983, Sonia O’Sullivan’s silver in 1993, then gold in 1995, and Gillian O’Sullivan’s silver in 2003, also in the 20km walk – and there’s no denying that helped paved the way for Loughnane.

By the time she’d got down to the press conference tent, there were 99 text messages on her phone, and one of the first she opened was from Gillian O’Sullivan. Turns out Loughnane had lots of people to thank, from the Spanish coach, Montse Pastor Martinez, who came in this year to give her some extra advice, to her daughter Eimear, who gives her a perfect excuse for an afternoon nap.

“I sat down at the end of last year, and one of the things I identified was that I needed a bit more technical and tactical support. With that in mind I started working with Montse. I knew I was strong, but maybe last year I wasn’t tactically astute enough. I wasn’t going to let that happen again. It took a bit of a leap of faith to work with her. What she did was slow down my steady stuff, and make the fast stuff faster.

“Ever since I’ve had Eimear, three years ago, I’ve also been a little bit calmer coming to events like this. That’s the big advantage. I have such a great back-up from my own family, and my husband’s family. It keeps you focused. You don’t dilly-dally about. You get out, do your training, and when training is over, you get on with life. Eimear sleeps when I sleep, so you maximise your hours. I’m still trying to hold on to that nap.

“It’s really my family that keep me going, all the support I get from them. I’m lucky that I was born in Galway, and live in Cork, and have the support of two communities. I’m out training around Coachford and everyone is giving me the thumbs up.

“These people would still support me if I was last today. I’m so lucky to have them.”

Some race walkers have a tendency to peak in their late 30s, which could yet have Loughnane primed for the 2012 Olympics in London: “I think I can continue to improve. But what will be, will be. Inevitably I’m going to be under a little more pressure, like from you guys. I’m going to do everything I can to be in shape, but you never know what is going to happen.

“I’m lucky that I tend not to get injured. My aim now is to stay healthy. But I’m going to enjoy this first.” Enjoy it she will. We certainly did.