‘It was just so energetic and full of life, full of everything’

Twenty years ago tonight, four Irish athletes came home for a charity race that changed their lives - and set a record that still stands today. Simon Lewis reflects.

AS THE world track and field championships in Helsinki mercifully fade from memory for Irish fans, the timing of this latest nadir for athletics in this country is given added poignancy by the anniversary today of a remarkable event in Irish sports history.

It was 20 years ago, on August 17, 1985, that a quartet of Irishmen, Eamonn Coghlan, Marcus O’Sullivan, Frank O’Mara and Ray Flynn, confirmed their status as some of the greatest runners this country has known.