Ronnie Delaney's gold medal at the Melbourne games in 1956 represents the high point of Irish medal distance running. It was an achievement which came as no surprise to the young Irishman at the time, he told me. "At various stages of my career, I set myself different goals. About a year before the games, I thought I could be an Olympian and in the beginning of June 1956, I ran a 4-minute mile in California. I was only the 6th man ever to break this barrier and the youngest ever. I knew then that I was a good miler."

"With the passage of time and telling & retelling of the story of the race, the reality and myth have become intertwined. I remembered the sense of beauty of achieving a lifelong ambition at 21 years of age, when I won the 1500m gold." Ireland's 1st Olympic gold medal winner was a barrister a member of parliament, an author and distinguished orator. His name was John Pius Mary Boland. Born in Chapel St. Dublin in 1870, he won Olympic gold in both the singles and doubles tennis finals in the 1896 games in Athens. In this interview, Ronnie Delaney describes in dramatic detail how he ran into sporting history.

Topics discussed in this interview
Weeshie talks to Ronnie about his career as an Olympic gold medal winner. Ronnie brings listeners through that legendary race.

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