Irish Olympic champion Ronnie Delany dies aged 91

Irish Olympic champion Ronnie Delany has died at the age of 91.

The Co Wicklow athlete won gold for Ireland in the 1956 Melbourne Games in the 1,500m event.

At the age of just 21 he set a new Olympic record time of 3:41.2 when he overcame the home favourite John Landy on the last lap.

His victory earned the first Olympic gold medal for the country in two decades and it would not see another one until the 1992 games in Barcelona.

Educated at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, he claimed multiple National Collegiate Athletic Association titles.

He also won a bronze medal in the 1,500m at the 1958 European Athletics Championships.

Delany Park, in his native Arklow, is named in his honour.

The Minister for Sport, Patrick O’Donovan, said he was a “role model to athletes at home and abroad”.

He said: “Throughout his brief athletic career, Ronnie inspired young Irish runners to follow their dreams.

“Ronnie retired young, due to injuries, on the very same day he proposed to his beloved Joan.

“He went on to work for Aer Lingus and B&I Line, before setting up his own business in sports marketing and consultancy.”

The chief executive of the Olympic Federation of Ireland, Peter Sherrard, said: “Ronnie made an immense contribution to Irish sport and to the Olympic movement over many decades.

“Through his leadership of the Irish Olympians Association and his continued advocacy for athletes, he inspired generations and remained a proud ambassador for Team Ireland throughout his life.

“Ronnie famously said, ‘Once an Olympian, Always an Olympian’, and truly represented the best of us.”