Alex Cunningham

News Reporter for @IrishExaminer. [email protected]. Signal ID: alexcunningham.34

[Steve Magness @stevemagness]

We lost a legend this week. Olympic Gold medalist Ron Delany passed away at 91.

The summer before the 1956 Olympics, Delany ran a 4:20 mile at a meet in Dublin. Then, he got spiked badly in Paris and could barely race the rest of the season.

The press said he was burnt out.

The Olympic Council only confirmed his selection at the last possible moment.

As he was struggling with his form, John Landy pulled him aside.

He told him he looked strained, that his shoulders were too tense and he needed to relax.

Landy was the Olympic favorite, the 2nd man under 4.

The man he'd have to beat in Melbourne gave him the technical cue that would help unlock the run of his life.

Arriving at the Melbourne Olympics as an afterthought, he meets the British trio of 1500m stars in the village.

They want to do a friendly breakdown of the field. Who's going to do well?

Delany: "I'm going to win."

They looked at him like he was out of his mind.

Why was he so sure?

In his last training session before Melbourne, coach Brutus Hamilton pulled a piece of twine out of his pocket. Strung it across the track and had Delany run through it, arms spread wide, like a finish line celebration.

Then he said: "Now, son, we have practised everything."

They'd rehearsed winning, including winning.

In an era where there were no sports psychologist, Delany had a pre-race protocol.

Two hours out, he'd deliberately turn on the nerves. He'd let the anxiety build, get the adrenaline flowing.

Then an hour before, he flipped the switch.

Become what he called "the cold, calculated, tactician."

It was a threat-to-challenge conversion decades before we had a name for it.

On December 1st, 1956, there were 120,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with a field that was one of the best in history.

At the bell, Delany was tenth. Six meters off the lead.

Then he started to move. He passed Landy with 180 to go. And closed his final 200 in 25.6, to break the Olympic record by four seconds.

"There is no pain...Into the home stretch and I feel the strength, as if running on air... legs flowing so easily, breathing so consistent and effortless, my mind so relaxed and concentrated."

After he crossed the line, Delany dropped to his knees in prayer.

Landy, the favorite who'd helped fix his form months earlier and just lost, "was the first over me — which is a great tribute to the closeness of sportsmanship. He thought I'd collapsed, sees my face, and sees I'm not even winded."

After the race, Delany sent a telegram to his first coach, Jack Sweeney, back in Dublin.

Three words: "We did it Jack."

He was 21, 10,000 miles from home, had just won the Olympic gold medal.

And his first instinct was to credit the man who taught him to race.

RIP Ronnie.

[Alex Cunningham @A_Cunningham03]

Two audit reports on behalf of the NTA showed Waterford City and County Council continually failed to follow best practice whilst managing more than €20 million of Government funding for Active Travel initiatives

https://t.co/wZtpwSPOtj

[Alex Cunningham @A_Cunningham03]

New: Former Waterford Whisky owner Mark Reynier eyes €12 million buy-back of bulk stock

https://t.co/s5qMBoPqiy

[Paul Rai @PaulSRai]

If this was the needle drop at the end of HAMNET, I would’ve given it 5 stars.

[Alex Cunningham @A_Cunningham03]

New: Seventeen individuals who received their most serious offence conviction in Waterford courts are now on temporary release, according to figures from the Irish Prison Service obtained through Freedom of Information.

https://t.co/XiYoOQvYsT

[Alex Cunningham @A_Cunningham03]

Texas oil billionaire Kelcy Warren reported as Waterford Airport investor

https://t.co/M0u3TQxTGk

[Alex Cunningham @A_Cunningham03]

New: Waterford Airport runway extension moves one step closer following an EGM that saw shareholders vote overwhelmingly in favour of disposing of the company's assets.

https://t.co/RDeITAxNyz

[Alex Cunningham @A_Cunningham03]

‘Waterford Business owners brand council 'so far out of touch' as budget raises commercial rates again’

https://t.co/9okTWPBKdd

[RTÉ News @rtenews]

The home of the O'Donovan family is being used as a polling station in Coolmoyne, Co Tipperary. Around 250 people are eligible to vote there and after they will be treated to a cup of tea, a slice of apple or rhubarb tart, or a scone | More: https://t.co/2V58ydruQW

[Alex Cunningham @A_Cunningham03]

Yuck. Former World Champion and 2x Olympic medalist joining in on this project sets a worrying precedent. Kerley’s already serving a ban for whereabouts failures and his past achievements are now sure to be thrown into even more doubt…

[Enhanced Games @enhanced_games]

🏃‍♂️ Fred Kerley (@fkerley99) joins the @Enhanced_Games.
👟 First Track athlete.
🇺🇸 First American male athlete.
🙌 Welcome to @Enhanced.

[The Olympic Games @Olympics]

This is what 6.30m looks like btw, outrageous.

A 14th World Record for Mondo Duplantis.

#WorldAthleticsChamps

[Kieran McCarthy @KieranMcC_SS]

The journey to become a World Athletics Championships finalist begins at home.
Irish women's hammer trailblazer Nicola Tuthill, then just 15 years old, watches on as her dad Norman builds his daughter a throwing circle (and then cage) in a field at home on their farm in Kilbrittain.
On Monday, Nicola, now 21, will throw in the World final and is guaranteed a top-12 finish.
And her remarkable rise started at home. 🙌

[CITIUS MAG @CitiusMag]

MUST WATCH: French commentators go CRAZY watching Jimmy Gressier’s kick to win 10,000m gold #WorldAthleticsChamps https://t.co/XnNAbv9bkE

[Will Clarke @WClarke1980]

The harsh reality is that our #LOIAcademy system currently ranks between 92-96 in the top 100 ranked countries in the world and the impact of Brexit has yet to reach the MNT yet.

[Daniel McDonnell @McDonnellDan]

It's over! Shamrock Rovers 0 Santa Clara 0. Shamrock Rovers win 2-1 on agg

They became the first League of Ireland side to qualify without availing of the non-champions route.

And, for the first time, we have two LOI clubs in league phase football.

Uncharted territory

[Daniel Storey @danielstorey85]

I think I might just hate every single thing about this screenshot and what it stands for, so that's fun.

[RTÉ Sport @RTEsport]

World Athletics President Seb Coe said the test will protect integrity and quell fears over a "biological glass ceiling" in the female category.
✍️@A_Cunningham03 | #RTEathletics
https://t.co/wJFhU6Hw7E

[Alex Cunningham @A_Cunningham03]

An attempt to chart the history of sex testing in Athletics, and look at what may come next following World Athletics' decision to introduce mandatory SRY gene testing for September's World Championships.

[RTÉ Sport @RTEsport]

Genetic tests latest attempt to solve athletics' gender puzzle

Attempts to find an equitable solution the hotly contested issue is the latest in a long line of sometimes controversial tests to try and determine the sex of competitors.✍️ @A_Cunningham03

https://t.co/wJFhU6GYi6

[Alex Cunningham @A_Cunningham03]

*fastest

[Alex Cunningham @A_Cunningham03]

#19 fasted of all time-at 16. What on earth?

[Steve Magness @stevemagness]

A 16 year old high schooler just ran 1:42.27.

I have no words.

This is the most impressive athletic feat in history.

There are no superlatives.

His performance makes high school Lebron look like nobody.

Cooper Lutkenhaus take a bow.