VIDEO: Rob Heffernan’s dream finally comes true

Ireland’s latest Olympic hero said he hopes the presentation of his bronze medal in his native city last night four years after the London Olympics will inspire a new generation of Irish athletes.

Race walking legend, Rob Heffernan, from Togher in Cork, became the first athlete to be presented with an Olympic medal on Irish soil during an historic ceremony in Cork’s City Hall.

The 2013 world champion was upgraded from fourth to Olympic bronze for the gruelling 2012 Olympics 50km walk after the winning Russian athlete, Sergey Kirdyapkin, was stripped of his gold earlier this year after failing a doping test.