It was so easy to be a fan of Eamonn Coghlan in the 70’s and 80’s. Living in Jersey came with multiple opportunities to see him lay down winning anchor legs at the Penn Relays for Villanova and breathtaking indoor miles at Byrne Meadowlands Arena, including his extraordinary 3:49 mile. I still get goosebumps remembering that race!
For some reason the major outdoor titles seemed to be elusive for Eamonn. He had heartbreaking fourth place finishes in two consecutive Olympics. In this article from Athletics Weekly, Eamonn recounts his “redemption” race when he (finally) earned a major outdoor title in Helsinki as 5000 meter World Champion in 1983. Here’s a clip of the last lap.
It has been great seeing Eamonn’s name back in the news as of late, with so much effort being put into attempts at the 4xMile record by both the Ducks Track Club (15:52.05) and On Athletics Club (16:04.69). Coghlan ran the opening leg for the 1985 relay team that continues to hold the record with an astonishing time of 15:49.08.
Coghlan’s career includes 83 sub-4 minute miles. Certainly a coincidence the number matches the year of his world title, but a monumental coincidence for sure.
