Athletics Ireland have led the tributes to Irish Olympic and sporting trailblazer Maeve Kyle, who has died at the age of 96.
A three-time Olympian, and the first Irish woman to compete in track and field at the Olympics, Kyle devoted much of her life to sport.
In a statement Athletics Ireland said Kyle was “a true pioneer of Irish sport and one of our most iconic and inspirational athletes; she was a torchbearer who lit the path for those who followed. Her legacy lives on in the athletes she inspired and the standards she set.”
Olympic Federation of Ireland president Lochlann Walsh added: “We have lost a legend of Irish Olympic sport who rose to the top despite huge challenges in 1950s Ireland. She was an inspiration to us all. May she rest in peace.”
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In 2012, Kyle was the recipient of The Irish Times/Sport Ireland Lifetime Achievement award, presented by 1956 Olympic 1,500m champion Ronnie Delany, her team-mate on her maiden Olympic voyage of 1956.
It was at those Games in Melbourne where Kyle became the first woman to represent Ireland in athletics at the Olympics, selected in both the 100m and 200m events. Kyle often told the story of how news of her selection for Melbourne was greeted, perhaps best surmised in a letter printed in The Irish Times.
“I was a disgrace to motherhood and the Irish nation”, she once proudly recalled. “That’s what one letter in The Irish Times said. Imagine! A woman leaving her husband and daughter to go and run!”
Kyle’s achievements didn’t stop there, as she packed several lifetimes worth of sporting involvement across several different codes.
Born in Kilkenny in 1928, educated in Dublin at Alexandra College before attending Trinity College, her first love was hockey. Kyle earned 58 Irish caps and represented three of the four Irish provinces – Leinster, Munster and Ulster – and she was also named in the All-Star teams of 1953 and 1959.
In addition to Melbourne, she also competed in the Rome Olympics in 1960 and in Tokyo in 1964, reaching the semi-finals of both the 400m and 800m. She also took bronze in the 400m at the 1966 European Indoor Athletics Championships in Dortmund.
Kyle was equally deft at tennis, swimming, sailing and cricket. She later cofounded the Ballymena and Antrim Athletic Club with her late husband and coach Seán.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.
