IRELAND'S 110 metre hurdles Olympian, Sean Cahill, was awarded £30,000 damages for a whiplash injury yesterday.
Judge James Carroll heard how Mr Cahill overcame excruciating pain to go on and reach the Atlanta Olympics.
"Here is a young man who could have lain down and accepted he was finished," Judge Carroll said. "He didn't. He went on to compete at the highest level in the European and World Championships and in last year's Olympics."
"He has had to pay a price," Judge Carroll said. "He has had to put up with a good deal of pain and strain he might well have otherwise avoided.
Judge Carroll said he accepted that the impact of the crash in 1990, which ripped the driver's seat off the floor of Mr Cahill's car, had taken the edge off his capacity to do his best. "For a man dedicated to an athletic pursuit this is a great personal calamity. In all probability the injury he received to his neck and shoulder will be permanent," he said.
Mr Cahill, of Skryne, Tara, Co Meath, was in the Circuit Civil Court with his bride, Irish high jump record holder Terrie Horgan, only hours after returning from their honeymoon in the Algarve. Later he said: "I'm just glad this is all over."
In the court he told his counsel, Mr Pat Butler, that he was currently out of athletics with the achilles tendon injury he suffered in Atlanta last summer. He said that since the accident in 1990 he had two spinal scans, 72 physiotherapy sessions and dozens of visits to medical specialists to help keep him on the road to Atlanta.
"If I trained I got sore, so I stopped for a while. Then I would train again. I left the treating of the pain to the specialists," he said.
He said that on August 12th, 1990, a car rammed into the back of his at traffic lights. His seat was ripped from the floor and he thought his back was broken.
Mr Cahill said he had to give up his job as a travelling salesman because he could not stick the pain of motoring 1,000 miles a week. He became a self employed electrician, adapting his work practices to relieve the pain.
He agreed with Mr Tom Mallon, counsel for the Ulster Bank Ltd, owners of the car that crashed into him, that after the accident he had gone on to achieve impressive qualifying times for the championships and the Olympics. "My goal was to become an Olympian and nothing was going to stop me. I put up with the pain," he said.
Judge Carroll awarded Mr Cahill £30,000 damages, the full jurisdiction of his court, but granted Mr Mallon leave to appeal if £15,000 was paid to Mr Cahill immediately.