In September 2022, just over a year after the delayed Tokyo Olympics, and almost 11 years since the original site was deemed unsafe, then ripped up in parts to serve as a car park, the new running track was opened at University College Dublin (UCD).
It came almost five years after an anonymous donation of €3 million was given to UCD for the sole purpose of building the new track and then maintaining it for the next 20 years, essentially taking the project off life support, when it appeared destined to die a slow death.
Around that same time, five miles or so up the road from UCD, towards the foot of the Dublin mountains, Dundrum South-Dublin (DSD) were ready to cross the finish line on their first running track, likewise finished in blue to reflect their club colours.
That came almost 10 years after the club paid €1.25 million for the St Thomas estate of 15 acres, just off the Tibradden Road, before in 2019 it got the endorsement of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council in applying for the Government’s Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF).
In March of this year, just four months out from the Paris Olympics, University College Cork (UCC) confirmed the long-term closure of the Sonia O’Sullivan Mardyke track, due to “a rapid and significant deterioration” of the track surface, which meant at that point there wasn’t a single running track to serve the entire county of Cork.
The Mardyke track was renamed in O’Sullivan’s honour in 2013, following the last major redevelopment work there. It wasn’t until the running track at the Munster Technological University (MTU, or CIT) at Bishopstown was reopened in July, in time for the Cork City Sports, that the lack of any running track in the county was addressed.
These are just some of the battles won and lost when it comes to sporting facilities in the four-year Olympic cycle. Together they provide a reminder of not only why running tracks can be slow coming to fruition, but also the dangers of letting them slip into disrepair.
The tracks at UCD and DSD have unquestionably improved the athletics facilities in south county Dublin, one of the most densely populated areas in the country. But there remain many parts of the country, such as Cork, which remain under-served by such facilities, with no quick or easy solution in sight.
Along with funding and coaching, when this question of improving facilities in the next four-year cycle to Los Angeles in 2028 is put to Paul McDermott, director of national governing bodies and high performance at Sport Ireland, he references that need to ensure they aren’t just built, but managed and utilised in the best possible way.
“Improving facilities has always been an essential component to what we do, going back to the building of the Sport lreland Campus,” McDermott says.
“The completion of the cycling velodrome is the next big thing for us, at the campus, that being a long-term project. But it’s moved another step forward now, and it’s happening.
“There is such public enthusiasm for athletics now in this country, which is great to see, and of course we can always improve on the facilities that are there, but they also have to be used correctly. And generally, more open to the wider community.
“An athletics track for example, does take up a lot of real estate, and needs to serve that community in the best way. And I think we are also seeing a cultural shift in that regard, that they are used correctly, and managed correctly, in terms of when do schools get in, and clubs in, all of that.”
McDermott also references the improvements required in coaching in the next four-year cycle to LA: “The coaching [aspect] has already come up in our high-performance strategy, and we know that’s not perfect, and there are a few things we’re trying to fix.
“But it can’t just be fixed by just writing more big cheques, because part of it is a labour market problem, really. And each individual sport needs to have their own system for high-performance coaches, aligned with the Institute, and that’s a long-term project.
“There is also the gender [aspect], in high-performance coaches, because we need more female coaches in the system, and need more pathways for Irish coaches. We do acknowledge that. We’re not saying it’s not a problem.
“But with athletics, there is a particular issue there. Because of all the different events and disciplines, it’s a bit more complex. And athletes will always be based in different places. And you need a bespoke solution for that, and from talking with people in athletics, they have moved on, there are more coaches there now, and they’ll continue to move on.
“But when you look at the success [in the Olympics], seven medals, and the standard and depth right across the team of 133, you’re not going to get that unless the quality of coaching is at the top level.
“Some of our athletes we know do train away from Ireland, Mona [McSharry], Daniel Wiffen, Rhasidat [Adeleke], but the vast majority of these athletes are Irish-based, in an Irish system.
“And if you look at Zaur Antia, in Irish boxing, he’s one of the best coaches in the world, technically, so you’re trying to use that sort of knowledge, not just in boxing, but across the different sports too.
“And in terms of funding, with the athlete carding, that’s an essential component to the system, and we have made that multiannual, so that old thing of athletes chasing performances to be part of the carding, that’s all gone out of the system.”
The Paris Olympic Review, McDermott also notes, is already under way, Sport Ireland completing much of their four-year system review before Paris, before the Olympic Federation of Ireland (OFI), and the individual sports, feed into the review, based on the Games experience.
And for all the success in Paris, expect further talk about facilities, funding and coaching to be part of that conversation too.
