From two fourth-placed finishes at the Olympics to world championship gold in Helsinki, Eamonn Coghlan had a career of highs and lows, but no regrets.
Conor McGregor declared a few years ago to be the first Irishman on the cover of Sports Illustrated, unaware that another Dubliner named Eamonn Coghlan made the cover long before him.
Nicknamed the 'Chairman of the Boards' due to his success on the indoor circuit, Coghlan had a successful amateur career that led to a scholarship in the US, where he won four NCAA titles and ran a record sub-four-minute mile at 22 years of age.
Speaking on Off The Ball, Coghlan remembers his first love for board running in Dublin.
“I remember in November 1971, I went down to the outside boards and just started jogging around and from that moment I just fell in love with those tight turns and the steep bank. I felt like a Ferrari racecar.”
Coghlan recalls that as his success grew so did his support throughout Ireland.
“I was an Irish kid who happened to be winning a lot of races and as a result the people were coming out in force. I felt like I was performing on Broadway, but I got that more indoors compared to running outdoors.”
Coghlan eventually made it to the grand stage in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, which he talks about being the toughest defeat in his sporting career.
“In '76, I hadn’t lost a race that year on the collegiate circuit and when it came to the Olympic games my plan was to run exactly the same way as I ran all the other races.”
“When the gun went off I was in 7th or 8th place which was as planned, but when I heard that the pace per lap was too slow, I made the biggest mistake of my life and went straight into the lead trying to run the speed out of the other guys.”
“I became the sacrificial rabbit who was being chased. I was too worried about where the lads behind me were and in the end, I was caught just on the line for a bronze medal.”
Coghlan just about returned to the Olympics four years later. Through an unfortunate case of food poisoning and medical treatment Coghlan made it to the final in Moscow without winning any of his heats or semi-final along the way.
“In the final I ran the perfect race, but unfortunately ran out of fuel and ended up coming fourth.
"I was devasted but the fact I came fourth the previous time, I was able to handle fourth the second time better. It didn’t hurt me as much as in 76,” said Coghlan.
After the final in 1980, Coghlan recalls talking to US high jumper Dwight Stones who remarked on his two fourth-place finishes.
“Finishing fourth in the Olympics is tough, finishing fourth twice is f***ing awful.”
Eamonn Coghlan: no regrets
However, it was in August 1983 at the World Championships in Helsinki that eventually became the finest hour for the then 30-year-old Dubliner as he finally banished the heartache of narrowly missing out on a medal when it mattered most outdoors.
The night before he told his agent he'd make "one move and one move only" with 150 metres to run, but as he reached the final lap he had a 20-metre deficit to make up on Dmitriy Dmitriyev of the Soviet Union.
“With four laps to go I had planned to be in contention. I held my cool and as we turned the corner. I knew then at that very spot. It was the greatest feeling in my whole career because it made up for all that disappointment.”
“Now I know it was only a world championship, but I knew on that one day I wasn’t that bad after all.”
In 1994 Coghlan eventually hung up his spikes after becoming the first man over 40 to run a sub-four-minute mile, clocking 3:58.15 at Harvard University at the age of 41.
Although he never achieved what he set out to in 76 and 80, the now 67-year-old former Senator claims he has no regrets.
"I meet people and they ask how you did in the Olympics. If you say you won bronze they say 'wow' and that's the difference of going down as one of the all-time greats.”
“When I look at some athletes that won Olympic medals, they hadn’t had the same wonderful lifestyle or family lie that I have had. I can say God dammit I did well in my sport, and I have no regrets.”
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