Eoin Clarke

Solicitor, self employed. Average runner. Even more average coach of various children's sports.

[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.

[Steve Magness @stevemagness]

Cross Country is a great metaphor for life.

From the outside, it looks like an individual sport. A bunch of people running their own race.

But in reality, it's a team sport. The sooner we embrace the team aspect, the better we perform, and the more joy and connection we create.

[Eoin Clarke @ClarkeEoin]

@Cathal_Dennehy Brilliant performance, they all looked very assured 👏👏

[Michael Caulfield MSc @TheCaulfieldWay]

My word, this could apply to anything, not just golf. Never forget the reasons why you fell in love with something, as you’ll probably outlast others, whatever the rewards.

[Davis @Davis27271307]

I was set upon by a group of immigrants in Dublin yesterday. They gave me a triple heart bypass and saved my life 🫀😊

[Eoin Clarke @ClarkeEoin]

@SmallerFishGAA There's a significant difference between choosing not to field versus being forced to withdraw from competition.

[Eoin Clarke @ClarkeEoin]

@38BPM @MullingarHAC Well done Lily! Well deserved.

[Eoin Clarke @ClarkeEoin]

@hogg82 Think I'd be running fairly swiftly in the opposite direction!

[Eoin Clarke @ClarkeEoin]

@38BPM Shut up and take my money!!!

[CBS Mullingar @CbsMullingar]

WOW huge turnout for the GAA games during the Week of Welcome

[Eoin Clarke @ClarkeEoin]

Such drama at the World Athletics! Two Dutch fallers in 10 mins. Great start by team Ireland.

[Eoin Clarke @ClarkeEoin]

@SonyPicturesIRL @MsJDScience

[Eoin Clarke @ClarkeEoin]

Regardless of your opinion of RTE or Tubridy, from watching the last hour of the Oireachtas hearings, it's clear that most TDs are completely unsuited to that kind of work, didn't meet beforehand to ensure no duplicate questions and seemed more interested in appearing on TV.

[Eoin Clarke @ClarkeEoin]

@TGorrySolicitor Begs the question of why did he return it?!

[Irish Football Pics @irish_pics]

Put ‘em under pressure was top of the charts this day in 1990. Hook it to my veins 💉

[Eoin Clarke @ClarkeEoin]

@TheSundayGame @RTEsport A set of away jerseys would make it much more watchable on TV!

[Vinnie O Hora @VinnieHora]

I think Wild Youth go into a group now with Carlow, Laois and Roscommon. #WeAreOne

[Eoin Clarke @ClarkeEoin]

@PodgeODonnell Looks like a procession now. Unreal from a guy that hadn't won a match at the Crucible before this year!

[Dr. Scott Carlin @scottcarlinpt]

Running isn’t bad for your knees.

A sedentary lifestyle is bad for your knees.

[Eoin Clarke @ClarkeEoin]

@DubFireBrigade Hope you remembered to take it back out again so that the small boats can go back up too.