Coghlan: Finishing fourth gives you desire, it will only spur Rhasidat on

MOTIVATION comes in many forms.

“So I’m not fit, but the gun goes off and I’m like, ‘F**k, I can’t let John Treacy beat me. No way.’” Eamonn Coghlan is recalling the scene before the 4 x One Mile relay world record attempt for GOAL nearly 40 years ago. The Dubliner was part of a team with Marcus O’Sullivan, Frank O’Meara and Ray Flynn that set a new record in front of a bumper crowd at Belfield in 1985. A mark that still stands to this day.

His participation in the recent Great Ethopian Run was not about times or pace — just getting to the finish line in one piece while coping with high altitude. But the main motivation was the same as in 1985.

“I’ve been involved with GOAL since the 70s,” says Coghlan.

“But I’d never been out in the field, I’d never seen the operation first hand. So this opportunity came up to go to Addis Ababa and take part in the Great Ethiopian Run.

“It’s a 10km challenge at high altitude, eight and a half thousand feet, it was an event like I’d never experienced before.

“It wasn’t a marathon, but 10km felt like a marathon at that altitude.”

Coghlan travelled with GOAL Mile organisers and father and son duo Liam O’Brien and Ben Sweeney O’Brien and witnessed some of the work being done by the charity in the troubled country.

They travelled to Tigray, a region with an estimated death toll of 600,000 people since a brutal war started in 2020. The conflict has also left hundreds of thousands of people displaced and living in dire conditions.

“It’s just horrific,” says Coghlan. “It really hits home when you’re actually there.

“The poverty is just awful. You see these children just starving and the malnutrition, lack of hygiene, lack of awareness of hygiene and awareness of how to look after themselves.

“If it wasn’t for these NGOs you’d be losing thousands and thousands of kids year after year.”

It’s 40 years since famine in Ethiopia sparked a huge relief effort. Four decades on and violence and drought have brought parts of the country to the brink of famine once again.

Climate and conflict have pushed people to flee the country to all parts of the world in search of refuge, including Ireland.

“What we saw, there’s no getting out of it,” says Coghlan. “If you’re lucky to get a bit of an education and get a local job, it’s still bloody difficult conditions down there.

“So, why not welcome people here if they’re going to have an opportunity to have a life?”

Haile Gebrselassie, legendary Ethiopian athlete and founder of the Great Ethiopian Run with former World Champion Eamonn Coghlan

Hiko Tonosa is one of those who fled the country for safety and lived in Direct Provision before eventually getting Irish citizenship in 2020.

Coghlan was delighted that Tonosa set a new Irish marathon record in Dublin last month.

“I’ve known Hiko since he came here and helped him get some sponsorship,” says Coghlan.

“I saw him train regularly with Feidhlim Kelly’s group. He’s such a tough, tough goer, I was delighted he’s at least beginning to get recognised somewhat by running the record.”

In preparation for the recent charity run in Addis Ababa, Coghlan went to Mount Entoto at 10,000 feet altitude where many of the great Ethiopian runners have trained.

Last Sunday, he lined up with more than 30,000 people for the Great Ethopian Run — among them, the legendary figure of Haile Gebrselassie.

“Haile is revered. His nickname is the Emperor and we had a fantastic time with him,” says Coghlan. “The run itself was a stampede. It was like the bull run in Pamplona!

“You were nearly being run down, but the colour and the noise and the atmosphere, it was fantastic.

“I said, ‘I’m only walking and jogging, I’m not a runner any more. If you guys are running, go easy, it’s not about your performance, it’s about participation.’”

Eamonn Coghlan posing for a photo with young fans in 1976, including Paul Hewson, AKA Bono

It’s a world away from his heyday when Coghlan was known as ‘Chairman of the Boards’ for his incredible success on the indoor circuit in the US.

He was arguably the most talented Irish middle-distance of a golden generation and a bright light in otherwise bleak time in Ireland when mass unemployment, constant emigration and the Troubles dominated the news cycle.

To illustrate just how famous he was, there’s a famous photo of kids lining up for his autograph at Arnott’s in Dublin in 1976.

Front and centre is a young Paul Hewson — later to be known widely as Bono.

With the profile came pressure and he carried the hopes of the nation into the 1976 and 1980 Olympic Games.

Both times he agonisingly finished fourth, before spectacularly winning 5,000 metres gold at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki.

He believes current 400m star Rhasidat Adeleke can do something similar at next year’s World Championships in Tokyo after her own fourth place heartbreak at the Paris Olympics.

“The expectations were a huge weight on Rhasidat’s shoulders in Paris, there’s no question about it,” says Coghlan.

“But finishing fourth, she was only 21 when that happened and her career is all ahead of her.

“Finishing fourth will only spur her on to greater things.

“It gives you the desire when you’re so disappointed. You’re going for gold and you end up finishing fourth, it just drives you on. It happened to me twice and it kept driving me on.

“She’s in a good camp in Texas, she’s a brilliant racer, a brilliant racing brain.

“She will harden up physically over the next two to three years and along with her weight training and speed training, she’s just going to blossom over the next six years.

“I think Rhasidat can bring home a medal from Tokyo for sure. My money would be on her to do so.”

Ireland's Rhasidat Adeleke dejected after finishing fourth in Paris
(Image: Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/James Crombie)

Coghlan missed the 1984 Olympics in LA due to injury and could relate to Ciara Mageean’s disappointment at missing Paris.

“I’ve been down that road, getting injured going into the Olympics and having to withdraw from the Olympics two weeks beforehand with injury,” says the 72-year-old.

“It was a mirror image to what I went through and a mirror image to the age I was at. So I know how difficult it’s going to be for her. Really tough.

“But she’s a fantastic athlete and hopefully we will see her back to her best.”

Coghlan has backed Sarah Healy to reach new heights if she can take a step back and “chill” and he believes the current crop of male Irish middle-distance runners including Cathal Doyle, Andrew Coscoran, Brian Fay, Luke McCann and Nick Griggs would be a match for his generation.

“Middle distance is very strong, if not stronger than when we were around. The only difference the other guys are stronger too,” he says.

“Unfortunately they’re not getting the recognition because they’re not winning, but they’re super and they’ll grow over the next years.”

Eamonn Coghlan of Ireland raises his arms in the air as he crosses the line to win Men's 5000 Metres Final at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki
(Image: ©INPHO/Getty Images)

The lack of international success for the current crop is very different from that evening in 1985 when the World 5,000 metres champion lined up for a world record alongside the Olympic marathon silver medallist.

Even half-fit, seeing his pal John Treacy on the line was all the motivation Coghlan needed.

“I wasn’t fit, but when we arrived in Belfield there was something like 8,000 people there for this sports day that GOAL had put on — including Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche, including the Dubs and many of the greats of Irish sport,” he recalls.

“Who did they put against me in the first leg? John Treacy! My best mate and adversary. So John pushed me and I pushed him and coming up the last turn, I ended up handing the baton over in the lead, just barely.

“I didn’t break the four-minute mile. But the other lads came in with the fast times to break the world record, which still remains to this day. It was one of those great nights.”

Irish athletics has enjoyed its best year in decades with World and European gold medals in the Bahamas and Rome. Coghlan is hopeful there’ll be a few more great nights in 2025.

The motivation is there.