Cathal Dennehy: Fionnuala McCormack might be the most underappreciated star in Irish sport

Wouldn’t it be great if the Dublin Marathon organisers could put an appearance fee on the table that’d make it worth Fionnuala McCormack’s while to line up in the coming years?

Fionnuala McCormack is the only Irishwoman in history to compete at five Olympics and a sixth looks realistic in Los Angeles. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

It’s 20 years – Lord save us – since I enrolled at Dublin City University, settling into room 108A in House 14, otherwise known as the athletes’ house. With five athletes to an apartment and 10 apartments in total, there were a whole lot of dreams knocking around that building – most of which would go unfulfilled.

Back then, the scholarship programme at DCU was in its infancy and it didn’t take long to see that all athletes there were not created equal, from those tearing the arse out of it on Freshers’ week, starting as they meant to go on, to those who wouldn’t touch a drop of booze all season.