The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) may be under a cloud at the moment as athletics grapples with a doping scandal.
But did you know the IAAF's first recognised long jump world record was held by an Irishman?
Peter O'Connor set that high water mark on August 5th 1901, with a jump of 7m61 in Ballsbridge, Dublin.
That beat his previous record set three months earlier by mere centimetres. And what's more? It remained unbeaten for 20 years until American Edward Gourdin jumped 7m69 in July 1921, and was still the Irish record for just shy of 90 years.
O'Connor, who passed away in 1957 at the grand old age of 85, had a strong sense of Irishness as a couple of incidents reveal.
The Wicklow-raised star of early athletics rejected overtures from Britain's Amateur Athletic Association to represent them at the 1900 Olympics, steadfastly sticking with Ireland.
And when O'Connor won two Olympic medals at the 1906 Intercalated Games, he climbed the flagpole on the podium and "unfurled the old flag of Erin" as Irish Central.com details.
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