Death of 1948 Olympian

Athletics:Former Irish Olympian and discus record holder Cummin Clancy has died at the age of 90 in Garden City, New York.

From the village of Glann, near Oughterard in Galway, Clancy trained as a garda, and joined Donore Harriers, where he first broke the Irish record, and in 1948, just a fortnight before the London Olympics, secured his place on the Irish team. There, things didn’t exactly go to plan, his best throw of 40.73m falling short of making the final, but the trip proved highly fruitful, as, along with 400m runner Jimmy Reardon and miler John Joe Barry, Clancy was invited to attend Villanova University, thus beginning the US scholarship trail that continues to this day.

He married Maureen O’Grady, the daughter of Irish immigrants, had five children, and for years ran the successful brokerage firm of Clancy Clancy in Garden City, New York.