In the 100 years since Ireland started participating in the Olympic Games as an independent nation, just nine Irish people have climbed the podium to accept the ultimate accolade of a gold medal. In all, Ireland has won 11 gold medals over that time with the first of them going to hammer-thrower Dr Pat O’Callaghan at the 1928 games in Amsterdam. He followed up that success by winning gold again at the 1932 games in Los Angeles.
Bob Tisdall won an unexpected second gold for Ireland at the Los Angeles games. Having never contested the event competitively before 1932, Tisdall surprised the world when he took the men’s 400m hurdles gold.
Ireland had to wait 24 years for its next gold medal when Ronnie Delany upset the odds and the home crowd to beat Australian John Landy into second place when winning the men’s 1500m in Melbourne in 1956.
There was an even longer wait for the next Irish person to top the podium at an Olympic ceremony. That was Michael Carruth who took the men’s welterweight boxing title in Barcelona in 1992.
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Ireland’s most successful, and indeed most controversial, Olympian swimmer Michelle Smith left her mark on history winning no fewer than three gold medals in the women’s 400m freestyle, 200m individual medley, and 400m individual medley at the Atlanta games in 1996.
Sixteen years later, Women’s boxing sensation Katie Taylor took the gold medal at the 2012 London Games in the women’s lightweight division.
The delayed 2020 Tokyo Games in 2021 had Irish success on the water and land for Ireland. Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy for the men’s lightweight double sculls while boxer Kellie Harrington followed in the storied footsteps of Katie Taylor by taking the gold medal, this time in the women’s lightweight division.
While celebrating these giants of Irish sport we should not forget those Irish athletes who won gold representing other countries before Ireland’s admission to the games as an independent nation. The first of those was Dubliner John Pius Boland who won gold for tennis singles and doubles at Athens in 1896. Legend has it that the accomplished tennis player was on holiday near the site of the games at the time and simply turned up and asked to play.