Golden boy rides into town

THIRTY-NINE of the 50 Irish Olympians arrived home yesterday, but five hundred pair of eyes were only on one man.

The cheering crowds in the arrivals lounge of Dublin Airport proved that Irish sport had discovered a new hero.

All the disappointments of the past fortnight in Athens were forgotten in the golden hysteria.

The modesty of a smiling, if slightly dazed, Cian O'Connor shone as much as the Gold hanging around his neck, while on either side of him, politicians tried to bask in his reflected glory.

The young show-jumper called the moment the anthem started the most emotional of his life, and said he hoped his medal raises the profile of his sport in the country.

"I hope this is a big break for equestrianism. Things have been going well in the last few years we were European Champions in 2001, Dermott Glennon is World Champion but it wasn't getting the coverage it deserved.

While the show-jumping team were mentioned as possible medal prospects before the Games, nobody gave much thought to a rider taking home Ireland's first untainted gold medal in 12 years.

However, O'Connor believed he always had a chance.

"I suppose I thought I had a chance. He [Waterford Crystal] jumped a double clear in a couple of Nations Cup meetings. I knew I had nothing to lose. I had one fence down in the first round, and I thought if I jumped a clear in the second, I would have a chance of a medal.

"Going there, I thought I had a reasonable chance. If you talked to some of the other riders, they would have said I was 100-1, but in my own mind, I always thought I would have a chance."

Waterford Crystal is now 13 years of age and might have to retire from show-jumping, despite the offers likely to come Cian's way, to show-case the horse around the world.

O'Connor said he would leave the horse's future up to the owners. Instead he wants to concentrate on helping on Ireland to commence their bid for further glories in Beijing across the sporting spectrum.

"We have to look at the review that will come out and analyse the ups and downs of what happened at Athens.

"We need to put a structure in place going forward. This took 48 months of planning and forward planning is vital for Olympic success."

His sentiments were echoed by Minister for Sports John O'Donoghue. While some of the criticism of Irish Olympic performances have been particularly harsh in the past week, O'Donoghue said Ireland is making strides in the right direction.

"We have got the international carding scheme now ... Sam Lynch said he could concentrate simply on rowing for the past few years and not worry about trying to sort out hotel bills.

"We have to look at improving some of the structures already in place," said the Sports Minister.

"I think Irish sport is on the march. This is a long-term strategy, it is not going to happen over-night. But we now have a statutory Sports Council and there is a lot more funding for the athletes. When John Treacy won his silver medal, there was nothing like the funding that is in place now."

The Minister called O'Connor's achievement "Herculean" believing it was apt that this gold medal came in show-jumping, considering the success of the Irish blood-stock industry.

Avril Doyle MEP, head of the Equestrian Federation of Ireland, said O'Connor's medal should be a spur to Corporate Ireland to get behind the nation's show-jumpers.

"Cian has dedication and talent, but dedication and talent is not enough. We have 10 or 12 riders like Cian who can get to that level. If we had a tax-friendly regime for those who keep horses, it would help. We trade and deal, but we really want a horse-retention scheme."

Doyle paid particular credit to Marcus Swail, the vet for the team, who was forgotten in the hysteria of the past couple of days.

"And I would like to thank the Sports Minister and the Irish Sports Council, whose door was always open to the Equestrian Federation when we needed advice."

Following two weeks of disappointment, there was a golden sheen to our Olympics after all, provided by a young Johnstown show-jumper.

Yesterday belonged to Cian O'Connor. The political fall-out over what happened in Athens can wait for another day.