"Give my love to Ireland." Irish-born Bob Tisdall (93) asked The Irish Times to pass that on to his countryfolk just after he proudly carried the Olympic 2000 torch through his adopted home town in Queensland yesterday.
Speaking following his jog through the main street of Nambour, the former Irish Olympiad who calls Australia home but is still fondly Irish at heart declared: "It was the second biggest thrill I've had in my life."
The torch has now only a few hundred kilometres to go till its resting place in Sydney for the 2000 Olympics, which start mid-September.
"It was a fantastic experience, delightful," said the Tipperary-born Mr Tisdall, whose 1932 Olympic win in the 440-yard hurdle was Ireland's second-ever gold medal.
"It is amazing that Australia asked me to carry the torch, given that I didn't win a medal for Australia."
Hundreds of people lined the streets of Nambour, a small town inland from Queensland's Sunshine Coast, to cheer on the man who made Australia home 33 years ago. His wife Peggy, three of his four children and eight grand-children waved him on.
The Irish Ambassador to Australia, Mr Richard O'Brien, postponed all other engagements and flew to Queensland especially to cheer on the man he says still has "youth, passion and his country in his eyes".
Mr O'Brien, Bob's wife Peggy and the rest of his extended family ran behind him in a bloc of solidarity. "It's a day he'll never forget, he's on Cloud Nine," said his wife Peggy after the run. Bob Tisdall has embraced the Australian bush ethos of never saying enough is enough. He said he had been preparing for his short but historic journey by doing what he does on a daily basis: jog.
"Your body dies every day if you don't", he said.
The former Olympic gold medallist has immersed himself in the balmy Queensland life, holding the position of president of the Sportsman's Association for many years and co-founding the Mooloolaba Yacht Club.
But on Friday night, there was no sailing or jogging. It was champagne, a bubble bath and a well-earned rest.