Niall O'Shaughnessy (November 23, 1955 – September 16, 2015) was an Irish

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete, specializing in middle distances. He competed at the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

Biography

O'Shaughnessy came from Kilknockan,

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

and attended

St Munchin's College St. Munchin's College is a boys–only Roman Catholic secondary school in Limerick, Ireland. It was founded by The Most Reverend John G. Young (bishop), John Young, Bishop of Limerick in 1796. As of January 2020, a total of 657 boys were enrolle ...

but was recruited by Irishman

John McDonnell John Martin McDonnell (born 8 September 1951) is a British politician who served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2015 to 2020. He has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Hayes and Harlington ...

to the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

in the United States where he eventually settled. He was the 1974

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

champion in the indoor 880. He was All American in cross-country, indoor track, and outdoor track. He was inducted into the University of Arkansas Athletic Hall of Honor in 1994. O'Shaughnessy finished third behind

Steve Ovett Stephen Michael James Ovett, (; born 9 October 1955) is a retired British track athlete. A middle-distance runner, he was the gold medalist in the 800 metres at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. Ovett set five world records for 1500 metre ...

in the 800 metres event at the

1975 AAA Championships The 1975 AAA Championships was the 1975 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 1 to 2 August 1975 at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre The Nationa ...

. At the 1976 Olympic Games, he represented Ireland in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

and

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

. In the 1500 metres, he finished less than .2 behind former

880 __NOTOC__ Year 880 ( DCCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Battle of Cephalonia: A Byzantine fleet, under Admiral Nasar, is sent by Emperor Basil I to the Ionian Isl ...

world record holder

Rick Wohlhuter Rick Wohlhuter (born December 23, 1948) is a retired American middle-distance runner. Wohlhuter won the national indoor championship in the 600 yards in 1970. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1971, and later qualified for the 1 ...

who took the last qualifying spot in his heat behind eventual double silver medalist Ivo Van Damme and bronze medalist

Paul-Heinz Wellmann Paul-Heinz Wellmann (born 31 March 1952, in Haiger) is a former West German middle-distance runner who specialized in the 1500 metres. As a teenager he won the silver medal at the 1970 European Junior Championships. He then finished seventh ...

. Earlier in the 800, Van Damme had also defeated O'Shaughnessy in the heats, en route to his other silver medal. He later gained

American citizenship Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Consti ...

and became an engineer in

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

and

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. O'Shaughnessy died at 59 as a consequence of brain cancer. After his death he was inducted into the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OShaughnessy, Niall 1955 births 2015 deaths Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Ireland Irish male middle-distance runners People educated at St Munchin's College Arkansas Razorbacks men's track and field athletes Deaths from brain cancer in the United States Irish emigrants to the United States Arkansas Razorbacks men's cross country runners 20th-century Irish sportsmen