Treacy to be inducted to Hall of Fame

Athletics: John Treacy, the double World Cross Country champion and Olympic silver medalist, will be inducted to the Hall of Fame by Athletics Ireland at the National Athletics Awards in Santry on Saturday.

To be inducted this year marks the 25th anniversary of Treacy’s silver he won in the marathon at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. It also marks the 30th anniversary of the Waterford native retaining the World Cross Country title in 1979.

He first won the World Cross Country in snow conditions at the Bellahouston Park meeting in Glasgow in 1978. The following year it was mud under foot as he won again on home turf at Limerick Racecourse.

“I am very surprised and greatly honoured to have been chosen to receive the Hall of Fame Award. I join a small but legendary group of athletes in Ronnie Delany and Eamonn Coghlan in receiving this award” said Treacy, who is currently chief executive of the Irish Sports Council.

The 52-year-old also claimed bronze in the Junior World Cross Country Championships as a 16-year-old and would go on to win the 1993 Dublin Marathon in a time of 2:14.40.