Former European champion and Irish Olympian David Gillick has been confirmed as the special guest for the Donegal Sports Star awards that take place later this month.
A European Indoor Gold medallist in 2005 and 2007 and a bronze medallist in the Ireland 4x400m Men’s Relay team at the World Championships, the Dublin native was delighted to be named as the guest on the night, which takes place in the Mount Errigal Hotel on January 31.
“I am looking forward to it, these events are so important and it’s good to have it after Christmas so it doesn’t get lost in the madness.
“A lot of people have put in a lot of effort and to be welcoming a Dub up is nice as well!
“From my standpoint from playing GAA, Donegal always had that tradition but then in Athletics there was always athletes coming through in Donegal and the people there from Patsy McGonagle to Teresa McDaid and there’s loads more who have given their heart and soul to athletics and the Olympians mentioned there are really important to highlight.
“There was someone in a school or local club that enticed those people to get out and run a lap or something and that’s why it is important to celebrate these things.”
Gillick started athletics at a young age with his local club Dundrum South Dublin AC.
Impressing as a teenager, Madrid in 2005 was a huge moment in his career as he won gold in the 400m at the European Indoors at the age of just 2021, backing it up two years later in the same event in Birmingham.
Gillick also represented Ireland at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing as he failed to make it out of his heat and retired initially in 2013 before making a return in 2016 for the European Championships in Amsterdam but didn’t have the sort of impact he would have liked.
But there have been plenty of highlights in what was an incredibly successful career.
“Madrid was brilliant but it came as a surprise and suddenly you have to back it up or people think you’re a one-hit wonder so I probably struggled with what came with that, the expectations and pressure.
“So 2007 probably meant more to me and when you taste success, you want more and you have to go through that slog again.
“But in 2009, making the World final and coming sixth I would put down as my biggest moment because of the level I was at, I always wanted to get to a world final, medals are great and podiums are the stuff of dreams but where I really wanted to get to was the top eight in the world.”
Since then, he has been a huge part of the RTÉ team covering athletics and provided superb coverage during the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
There were near misses on the athletics track and many of his interviews were well dealt with as he had to console the heartbroken Irish athletes.
“Unless you’ve walked the walk then you don’t really get a sense of what they are going through, athletics is one of those sports where success and failure isn’t defined by a medal, it can be about your personal best or where you’re ranked in a race.
“So that’s something you have to try and get across to put context on the performances. I know the journey and what it’s like when you come off the track and people are trying to converse with you on a performance you mightn’t be overly happy about.
“And we have grown with RTÉ to have a presence at the whole Olympic Games rather than just for the Irish races and be able to interact with the superstars, the Noah Lyles’ and Femke Bol’s, so people don’t have to switch channels to get those interviews.
“For the Irish athletes when you see a familiar face it maybe helped to relax them and if you show empathy you get it back in spades.”
But 2024 will be remembered as the best Olympics to date for Ireland and Gillick feels there has been a huge boost to minority sports from the Games.
Donegal were also well represented in Paris as they had three competitors in Mark English (800m), Kelly McGrory (Women’s 4x400m Relay) and Rachael Darragh (Badminton).
“The last couple of years we have seen our minority sports do well and we are a sporting nation but it was always geared around three sports but now when you look deeper, the sports we’re doing well in is fantastic and 2024 amplified that.
“We’re at the top end in a lot of sports and it got the public behind sports they wouldn’t be familiar with and it has made people sports stars.”
Gillick was announced at Monday night’s launch, which also celebrated the 40th anniversary of the 1984 winners.
Tickets for the awards are priced at €35 for adults and €20 for Primary school going children which are available solely from the Mount Errigal Hotel (074 9106700).
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