Behan one of the great Irish sports stories

WHEN word of Kieran Behan’s Olympic qualification filtered through on Wednesday, you struggled, inevitably, to recall other fine Irish gymnastic landmarks.

Hand up, Barry McDonald’s wildcard in Atlanta ’96 passed me by. Instead all that came to mind was Ray Houghton’s floor routine in ’94 — and its artistic merit was somewhat impaired by Roy Keane quickly mounting him.

Then there was Robbie’s slightly more athletic signature cartwheel, though its bow-and-arrow climax might have been more suited to the rhythmic gymnastics discipline.