The last Irish athlete to win Olympic gold in track and field, Delaney beat Australia’s John Landy and Britain’s Brian Hewson and Ken Wood to win in Melbourne 70 years ago.
Ron Delaney created history in the men’s 1500m final at the 1956 Melbourne Games when he became only the third Irish athlete to win Olympic gold at the time. Seventy years later, he remains the last Irish athlete to also win an Olympic athletics title.
Delaney died on Wednesday (March 11) just five days after turning 91 after a short illness. He was just 21 in Melbourne in 1956 and retired when he was just 26 due to injury.
At those Melbourne Games he sought to follow in the footsteps of fellow Irishmen Pat O’Callaghan, who won Olympic hammer gold in 1928 and 1932, and Bob Tisdall, 400m hurdles champion in 1932.
The 1500m was also packed with talented contenders such as fellow Australian John Landy, plus British runners Brian Hewson and Ken Wood.
Landy, who had raced to become the first four-minute miler two years earlier, finished third. Hewson came off the final bend with victory in his sights but finished fifth, while Wood, a multiple AAA and Emsley Carr Mile champion known for sprinting to a fast finish, was tactically overmatched and ended up in a disappointing ninth.
Delaney’s win made him a global running star and, among other things, landed him on its front cover. Sports Illustrated. Born in Arklow, County Wicklow, he grew up mostly in Dublin but moved to the United States to study at Villanova University, a move that inspired future generations of Irish middle-distance runners to follow a similar path.
Six months before the Melbourne Olympics, he became the seventh person to run a sub-four-minute mile and also broke the world indoor record several times during his career. But due to injury, he struggled to actually qualify for the Ireland squad for Melbourne before eventually making the squad.
The 1500m final was on December 1st and AW: reports“When the twelve runners ran away, Murray
Halberg moved into the lead right up the inside, with Brian Hewson right behind him. Australians Landy and Lincoln were right behind. The first lap was completed in 58.8 seconds, and shortly thereafter Merv Lincoln sped past the last to take the lead after a lap and a half. Boyd went with her. and stuck behind falling behind Hewson, but there was nothing in it between first and last.
“The short, brisk Lincoln ran two laps in 2:00.2, running surprisingly well and with a lot of confidence for a man who had to take injections before the race to relieve pain in an injured toe. Twelve yards covered the field and John Landy was still the last. Ken Wood was pretty well placed at this stage.
“Three laps went by in 3:01.5 and Hewson was well positioned behind the leader, then passed and pulled away. Although Hewson was going fast, he couldn’t shake the pack in full cry after him.
“Ken Wood, who many expected to win, tried to make up with the leaders at the bell but was forced out of the bend mid-track and such was the pace of the big pack chasing Hewson, he couldn’t run through this world-class field as he has done in lesser races and faded behind in a disappointing and disappointing, stunning and desperate. faster than ever.
READ MORE. Brian Hewson has died aged 89
“Hewson led into the final bend as Richtenhain made his effort. Delaney was biding his time and coming up behind John Landy, he raced the tape at the right moment and broke away to win 5 yards from Richtenhein, who was just behind Landy. old record: 3:45.2.
“So close was the race for the places behind the winner that eighth-placed Ian Boyd was only 10 yards behind in the final. Hewson, with his effort too early, just couldn’t hold on and finished fifth in 3:42.6. Exhausted and very frustrated, he let the paramedics and the more insane take him away. despaired and expressed his opinion that he would not run again, but this can be taken as the hasty reaction of a disappointed loser.”
Achilles problems followed for Delaney, although he finished third in the 1958 European 1500 meters in Stockholm, behind winner Hewson and runner-up Dan Vaer of Sweden.
Disappointment followed at the 1960 Rome Olympics when he was knocked out in the 800m and out of the 1500m.
He later worked in marketing and sports consultancy and was honored in his native Ireland with the Freedom of the City of Dublin, among other accolades.
