Ron Delany

Ronald Michael "Ron" Delany (born March 6, 1935 in Arklow ) is a former Irish middle-distance runner and Olympic champion .

Life

While attending the elite Catholic University School , he had been successful in tennis , cricket and hockey since he was twelve and even won the Irish youth championship over 800 meters without any actual training. After graduation, he passed the entrance examination into the officer career of the Irish Army ( Irish Army's Cadet College ), but resigned immediately and concentrated on athletics. He earned his living as a vacuum cleaner salesman . He continuously improved the Irish records over 800 meters and reached the 1954 European Championships in Bernthe final. Now he has applied for a competitive sports scholarship at Villanova University in the United States in order to train there under practically professional conditions and to study business administration . He was trained by Jumbo Elliott , who had intense tempo runs on an indoor wooden track in the open air, making him almost unbeatable in indoor races (40 victories in a row) and indoor world record holder over the mile. His first notable appearance was a placement in the final of the 1,500 meter run at the 1954 European Championships in Bern. In 1956 he was the seventh athlete to complete a mile run under four minutes.

In the same year he also qualified for the Olympic Games in Melbourne . For the first few laps of the final run, he stayed closely behind the Australian John Landy , who started the race as a big favorite on his home track. On the final lap he increased the pace noticeably and managed to overtake Landy. His victory also represented a new Olympic record. The silver medal went to the German Klaus Richtzenhain and the bronze to Landy. Delany was the first Irishman since Bob Tisdall (1932) to win a gold medal in athletics.

At the European Championships in Stockholm in 1958 , he won the bronze medal in the 1500 meter run. He then continued his sporting career in the USA. He won four AAU titles over a mile in a row, three NCAA titles and four Irish National Championships . In 1961 he became the FISA student world champion over 800 m.

After completing his studies, he represented Aer Lingus in the USA before becoming Deputy Director of B&I Line with responsibility for the ferry routes to Ireland. In 1998 he started his own business with a consulting company. In 2006 he became an honorary citizen of Dublin City and University College Dublin awarded him an honorary doctorate in law .

Autobiography

Delany, Ronnie (2006): Ronnie Delany - staying the distance. Dublin: O'Brien; ISBN 978-0-86278-975-6

Web links

• Ron Delany in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Biography on fampeaple.com, accessed March 7, 2017 (English)
2. ↑ Biography on racingpast.com, accessed March 7, 2017 (English)
3. ↑ Arnd Krüger : Many roads lead to Olympia. The changes in training systems for medium and long distance runners (1850–1997). In: N. Gissel (Hrsg.): Sporting performance in change . Czwalina, Hamburg 1998, pp. 41-56.
4. ↑ Biography on sports-reference.com, accessed March 7, 2017 (English)
5. ↑ News on ucd.ie, accessed March 7, 2017 (English)