Paul Hession (born 27 January 1983 in

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

international

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who is the fastest Irishman in history over

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

. He specialises in the sprinting events, particularly the 200 metres. He has won silver and bronze medals at the

World University Games The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

, a silver medallist in the 200 m in the

2008 IAAF World Athletics Final The 6th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Stuttgart, Germany on September 13 and September 14, 2008. A number of road races also took place on the second day of competition. There were seven different starting po ...

and in 2007 made the leap into world class by setting 4 Irish national records at

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

and 200 metres. He is a member of the Athenry Athletics Club.

Career

Early career

After competing in the

IAAF World Junior Championships The World Athletics U20 Championships is a biennial world championships for the sport of athletics organised by the World Athletics, contested by athletes in the under-20 athletics age category (19 years old or younger on 31 December in the yea ...

in 2002, Hession made his major championship debut for Ireland the same year, at the 2002 European Championships where he finished 7th in his heat in a time of 21.28. The following year Hession missed the World Championships but was rewarded with silver medal in the 200 m at the

. Two years later Hession won bronze in the 2005 edition. He followed this up with a disappointing run in his first World Athletics Championship. In the 2006 European Championships Hession ran poorly in the semi final and with a time of 20.80 was eliminated. In 2007, Hession broke his first Irish national record by running the 100 m in 10.28 in

Kalamata Kalamáta ( el, Καλαμάτα ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula, after Patras, in southern Greece and the largest city of the homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia reg ...

. Only three weeks later he lowered the record to 10.18 in

Vaasa Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas),

. When Hession stepped up to his preferred distance of 200 m he again broke the Irish record twice. First running 20.44 in the

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

Grand prix, and then 20.30 in the Irish national championships in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Olympics and beyond

Hession competed in the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. He trained in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in the build-up. On 18 August he won his 200 m quarter final to qualify for the semi-final in a time of 20.32, just after

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt, , (; born 21 August 1986) is a retired Jamaican sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay. An eight- ...

had a time of 20.29. In the semi-final he finished fifth in a time of 20.38 however he missed out on a place in the final as only the top four qualified. Hession had another very good season on the 2008 Grand Prix circuit, this time claiming second place in the 200 m at the World Athletics Final. On 15 November 2008 Paul was awarded the highly prestigious Athlete of the Year at the annual

Athletics Association of Ireland Athletics Ireland, officially the ''Athletic Association of Ireland'' or AAI, is the governing body for athletics in Ireland, with athletics defined as including track and field athletics, road running, race walking, cross country running, mount ...

awards dinner. In the

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Cat ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. Hession made history as the first Irishman to qualify for the finals of the

in the European Athletics Championships. Hession ran 20.71 seconds, finishing 6th in the final. Hession participated in the 2012 London Olympics. In his first round heat he ran the 200m in a time of 20.69 sec which yielded him 5th place in his heat. That was not enough to see him through to the semi-final.

Studies

A graduate of

NUI Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

, at last he received a M.B. B.Ch., B.A.O. in 2014, as well as a Final Medical Medal for Outstanding Sporting Achievement on the same occasion. He had put his medical studies on hold to pursue athletics full-time. Hession is currently working as a doctor in Childrens University Hospital, Temple Street, Dublin.

References

External links

IAAF profile

Hession's Page on the Athletics Association of Ireland Web Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hession, Paul 1983 births Living people Alumni of the University of Galway Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Irish male sprinters Olympic athletes of Ireland People from Athenry Sportspeople from County Galway Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade silver medalists for Ireland Universiade bronze medalists for Ireland Medalists at the 2003 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2005 Summer Universiade