 Delany in 1957 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Birth name | Ronald Michael Delany | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Ronnie | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Irish | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1935-03-06)6 March 1935 (age 90) Arklow,County Wicklow, Ireland | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 184 cm (6 ft 0 in)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 75 kg (165 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Ireland | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | 800 m, 1500 m | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Crusaders Athletic Club, Dublin[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Jumbo Elliott | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 1962 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympic finals | 1956 Summer Olympics, 1960 Summer Olympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Regional finals | 1954 European Athletics Championships, 1958 European Athletics Championships | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personalbest(s) | 800 m – 1:47.1 (1961) 1500 m – 3:41.49 (1956)[1][2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Updated on 29 July 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ronald Michael Delany (born 6 March 1935) is an Irish formerathlete who specialised in middle-distance running. He won a gold medal in the1500 metres at the 1956 Summer Olympics. He later earned a bronze medal in the 1500 metres event at the1958 European Athletics Championships inStockholm.
Delany also competed at the1954 European Athletics Championships inBern and the1960 Summer Olympics, though he was less successful on these occasions. He retired from competitive athletics in 1962. Delany is one of Ireland's most recognisable Olympians and international ambassadors.[3]
Born inArklow,County Wicklow, Delany moved with his family toSandymount,Dublin 4 when he was six. Delany later went to theChristian Brothers'O'Connell School,North Richmond Street (where there are all-weather, floodlit sports facilities named in his honour), toSandymount High School and toCatholic University School. At Catholic University School (CUS), Delany was first coached byJack Sweeney (mathematics teacher), to whom he sent a telegram from Melbourne stating "We did it Jack".[4] Delany in 2008 said about Sweeney, "Other people would have seen my potential but he was the one who in effect helped me execute my potential".[5]
Delany studied commerce and finance atVillanova University in the United States.[6] While there he was coached by the well-known track coachJumbo Elliott.
Delany's first achievement of note was reaching the final of the 800 metres at the1954 European Athletics Championships inBern. In 1956, he became the seventh runner to join the club offour-minute milers, but nonetheless, he struggled to make the Irish team for the1956 Summer Olympics, held inMelbourne.
Delany qualified for the Olympic 1,500 metres final, in which local runnerJohn Landy was the favourite. Delany kept close to Landy until the final lap, when Delany started a crushing final sprint, winning the race in a new Olympic record.[7] Delany thereby became the first Irishman to win an Olympic gold medal in athletics sinceBob Tisdall andPat O'Callaghan in 1932. The Irish people learned of its new champion at breakfast time.[8] Delany was Ireland's last Olympic champion for 36 years, untilMichael Carruth won the gold medal in boxing at the1992 Summer Olympics inBarcelona.
Delany won the bronze medal in the 1,500 metres event at the1958 European Athletics Championships. He went on to represent Ireland once again at the1960 Summer Olympics held inRome, this time in the 800 metres. He finished sixth in his quarter-final heat.
Delany continued his running career in North America, winning four successiveAAU titles in the mile, adding to his total of four Irish national titles, and threeNCAA titles. He was next to unbeatable on indoor tracks over that period, which included a 40-race winning streak. He broke the World Indoor Mile Record on three occasions. In 1961 Delany won the gold medal in theWorld University games inSofia, Bulgaria. He retired from competitive running in 1962.[8]
After retiring from competition, Delany first worked in the United States for the Irish airlineAer Lingus. After that, for almost 20 years, he was Assistant Chief Executive ofB&I Line, responsible for marketing and operations of the Irish ferry company based in Dublin. In 1998, he established his own company focused on marketing and sports consultancy.[1] Ron Delany coached athletics for a period at Franciscan College Gormanston in the 1960s.
In 2006, Delany was granted theFreedom of the City of Dublin.[9] He was also conferred with an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree byUniversity College Dublin in 2006.[3] In 2019, a housing scheme in Arklow, where Delany was born, was namedDelany Park in his honour. He attended the opening in person.[10] Similarly, two streets inStrabane inNorthern Ireland were namedDelaney Crescent andOlympic Drive in the 1950s in his honour – however, Delany was not aware of these until it was pointed out that his surname had been spelt wrongly.[11]
As for media coverage of the Melbourne Olympics, there was only one travelling journalist from this country,Arthur P. McWeeney of theIrish Independent, and people back home depended on the oldBBC Light Programme for live coverage on the radio. Delany's 1,500 metres victory was relayed to Ireland at breakfast time. Just imagine the excitement on that crackling machine as the Irishman raced to glory.
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USTFCCCA Collegiate Track & Field/Cross Country Athlete Hall of Fame | ||
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| Class of 2023 | ||
| Class of 2024 | ||
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