Great achievements are a great challenge

At exceptional moments like this it is easy to see how great and positive an influence sport can be, and generally is, in our lives.

Katie Taylor’s London gold medal may be the apex moment or John Joe Nevin may well join her on the medal podium’s highest point but the resolve, the character and the emotional steel Paddy Barnes displayed yesterday afternoon was so inspiring as to be moving.

Remember the Belfast man suffered a 15-0 humiliation, albeit questionable, at the hands of the same opponent at the last Olympiad in China. Yesterday he drew 15-15 with world champion Shiming Zou and lost only on a count-back. Very few of us would have the depth of character needed to complete such a difficult journey of personal redemption. This exceptional achievement offers us all a valuable lesson in how to confront our demons.

It would be a pity if the great excitement and pleasure generated by our London medallists was a passing, momentary thing because as we have seen, in other spheres too, Irish competitors, if they are offered world-class preparation, can deliver world-class performances as well as anyone. The return on the relatively modest investment in our boxing team underlines this.

Irish golfers, especially Rory McIlroy, have shown how professional preparation makes them a match for any competitor.

Leinster and Munster’s recent domination of European rugby is as inspiring to us as it is frustrating to others and would be even more so if that success was replicated by our national team.

Aidan O’Brien and his unequalled Coolmore operation may be the best example of potential being realised through thorough, proper preparation. Our soccer team will have to do more if they are to take the sting of truth from Roy Keane’s along-for-the-singsong jibe but who can say they won’t rise to the challenge?

And then there is the great lingua franca of Irish life — the GAA and the uniquely Irish games the association promotes. Though rooted in amateurism and steadfastly domestic the very same principles apply. Perfect preparation makes for perfect performance. Just ask Brian Cody.

Britain has used the games as a national festival of renewal and though they have occasionally veered towards unattractive, prickly jingoism who can blame them? Their medal haul is truly impressive and the games, and the Queen’s jubilee, seem to have been engineered to reanimate a national spirit that might have been ebbing away. None of this happened by accident.

Maybe that is the greatest lesson we can learn from the last two weeks. We have the athletes, we have the ambition and, as the wonderful boxing team have proved, organised and world-class preparation can turn those attributes into international success.

What better way to tackle the coming obesity epidemic and what better way to rebuild a national spirit all but broken by so many betrayals.

The London games may be coming to a close but a whole world of opportunity lies before us if we choose to seize it. Katie and her teammates have shown us how to seize the day.