Sport

Olympic Federation of Ireland to mark centenary of Irish Olympians

The 911 Irish names to have competed at an Olympic Games are to be marked in a ceremony at Trinity College

Ronnie Delany won gold at the 1500 metres at the Melbourne Olympic Games of 1956. Photograph: IOC/Allsport
Ronnie Delany won gold at the 1500 metres at the Melbourne Olympic Games of 1956. Photograph: IOC/Allsport
Ian O'Riordan
Wed Mar 13 2024 - 19:08

It was Ronnie Delany who first championed the phrase once an Olympian, always an Olympian, and in the soon-to-be 100 years of Ireland’s participation in the Games that much has never changed.

With that partly in mind, the Olympic Federation of Ireland (OFI) has initiated a series of events to mark that centenary, beginning with an official list of the now 911 Irish names who have represented Ireland at the Olympics since 1924, firstly as the Irish Free State, just 17 months after it was established under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1922.

In a joint event with the Irish Olympians Association, the list was unveiled at Trinity College in Dublin on Wednesday evening, also marking the start of a partnership with Trinity to celebrate their Olympic athletes.

This number is set to surpass the 1,000-mark in Paris this July, given the Irish team is projected to be the largest in our Olympic history, surpassing the 116-strong team that took part in Tokyo.

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Starting with the 1924 Games, also staged in Paris, Ireland has now participated at 22 Summer Games and eight Winter Games since 1924. During that period, a total of 38 Olympic medals have been won (including three in the early arts and literature events), the latest being the gold medal won by Kellie Harrington in the women’s lightweight boxing category in Tokyo.

Kellie Harrington won gold for Ireland in Tokyo. Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
Kellie Harrington won gold for Ireland in Tokyo. Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

For Paris 1924, which took place from May 20th right through to October 28th, Ireland was represented by a team of 48 athletes, 46 men and two women, in five sports: athletics, water polo, boxing, football and tennis plus the arts and literature events. The two women were Phoebe Blair-White and Hilda Wallis, both in the tennis events.

From the 1924 team, the best result in sport was for Thurles boxer Paddy Dwyer, also known as Rocky, who settled for fourth in the welterweight division, already so exhausted he was unable to box off the bronze.

Of the eight artistic entries, two won medals: the year before, in 1923, Jack B Yeats witnessed the first Liffey Swim in Dublin, and captured the moment with his painting of eager spectators leaning over the river walls for a glimpse of the swimmers below. Then in a reportedly tight race for the literature medals, poet and doctor Oliver St John Gogarty won bronze for his Ode to the Tailteann Games.

As part of the Team Ireland centenary celebrations, the OFI has also launched an Olympian Recognition Programme which allows schools, universities, clubs, and communities to celebrate their local Olympians.

The Olympic centenary will also be marked at next Sunday’s St Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin, a French marching band leading a Team Ireland float which will serve as a visual representation of the country’s history with the Olympics.

For more see www.olympics.ie/celebrating-100-years-of-team-ireland

Ian O'Riordan

Ian O'Riordan

Ian O'Riordan is an Irish Times sports journalist writing on athletics