Jerry Kiernan - the Kerryman who found another big world beyond football

In this 'Big Interview' with Kieran Shannon ahead of the 2012 Olympics, Jerry Kieran didn't hold out much hope of medals for Irish athletes. But he'd always champion their cause. 

Jerry Kiernan. /Picture: Maura Hickey

No, outside of a couple of our walkers, we haven’t a chance of winning a medal in track or field over the next fortnight, says Jerry Kiernan in that straight, unflinching way of his over an espresso in a small Italian restaurant in Ranelagh.

You can never write off Derval O’Rourke, he adds, because Derval is a championship runner but the facts are scary. Her personal best is the 12.65 she ran winning silver in the Europeans in Barcelona two years ago. The Americans alone had five girls run quicker than that in their recent trials and only three of them can go to London. There’s a Canadian girl who also ran faster in her trials than Derval ever has and she’s not going to the Olympics either.