Ronnie Delany, Ireland’s Olympic gold medal-winning athlete, has died aged 91

The death has taken place of Ronnie Delany at the age of 91, the athlete indelibly associated with his Olympic 1,500 metres triumph in Melbourne in 1956 and a true trailblazer and icon in Irish athletics.

The Wicklow-born Delany remains Ireland’s last Olympic gold medallist in athletics, and to this day his Melbourne glory ranks among the greatest ever achievements in Irish sporting history.

Delany turned 91 only last Friday, and died in Dublin on Wednesday afternoon after a short illness. Delany’s gold medal run in Melbourne at age 21 also made him a worldwide athletics star of his time.

His success on the US collegiate scene with Villanova University also blazed a trail for a generation of Irish athletes who followed in his footsteps, including Eamonn Coghlan and Sonia O’Sullivan.

Delany often recalled his 1956 success at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, in front of 120,000 spectators, with a sense of destiny. “There was no moment in Melbourne when I didn’t believe I was going to win,” Delany told this newspaper in 2006.

“I think at that stage I did feel an element of fate. Once I struck and flew by everyone, I was not going to lose. I don’t do maybes, but it is terrifying to think about my life if I hadn’t won that Olympic gold medal. I can’t actually conceive it.”

[ Happy 90th birthday, Ronnie Delany: from Wicklow’s fields to Olympic goldOpens in new window ]

Exactly six months before the 1,500m final in Melbourne, he became only the seventh man in history to crack the four-minute mile, running 3:59.0 in California.

Paying tribute, Lochlann Walsh, President of the Olympic Federation of Ireland said: “Ronnie Delany was one of Ireland’s greatest Olympians and a defining figure in Irish sporting history. His extraordinary victory in Melbourne in 1956 remains one of the most iconic moments in Team Ireland’s history. At this time our thoughts and prayers are with Ronnie’s family.”

Peter Sherrard, chief executive of the Olympic Federation of Ireland, added: “Ronnie made an immense contribution to Irish sport and to the Olympic movement over many decades. Through his leadership of the Irish Olympians Association and his continued advocacy for athletes, he inspired generations and remained a proud ambassador for Team Ireland throughout his life.”

Minister for Sport Patrick O’Donovan expressed his condolences, saying Delany “was a role model to athletes at home and abroad. Throughout his brief athletic career, Ronnie inspired young Irish runners to follow their dreams. His remarkable victory in Australia marked the first gold medal for Ireland in two decades, since Bob Tisdall and Pat O’Callaghan won gold in 1932 – and would mark a high point for Irish sport until 1992 in Barcelona.”

Delany formally retired from top-level competition in the summer of 1961, aged 26, announcing it the same day as his engagement to Joan Riordan.

Delany went on to work for Aer Lingus and B&I Line, before setting up his own business in sports marketing and consultancy.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

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