Advertisement
David Rudisha, one of Brother Colm O'Connell's star protégés, celebrates his Olympic gold and world record. David J. Phillip/AP/Press Association Images
Athletics

DCU honorary doctorate for 'godfather of Kenyan running'

Olympic champion David Rudisha will be in Dublin this week to attend a ceremony honouring the work of Cork missionary Brother Colm O’Connell.

OLYMPIC CHAMPION AND 800m world record holder David Rudisha will travel to Dublin this week for an event to honour his mentor, world-renowned athletics coach Brother Colm O’Connell.

Dublin City University has announced that it is to confer an honorary doctorate on O’Connell, who is widely regarded as the most successful coach of endurance running having trained five Olympic gold medallists and more than 20 world champions.

A Patrician missionary from County Cork, O’Connell moved to Iten in Kenya’s Rift Valley to teach geography in 1976. Although he had no formal coaching experience he went on to train some of the country’s most famous distance athletes including Olympic champions Peter Rono, Reuben Kosgei and Brimin Kipruto, earning himself the nickname “the godfather of Kenyan running.”

“Brother O’Connell has become an iconic figure in Kenya and around the globe and DCU is proud to acknowledge his achievements,” university president Professor Brian MacCraith said ahead of a ceremony to recognise O’Connell’s contribution to sport on Friday 19 October.

“He is a remarkable individual who has touched the lives of many not only through his achievements in sport but also through his work for HIV-AIDS sufferers in Kenya.

“A commitment to excellence, the transformative power of sport and social inclusion, so strongly advocated by Brother O’Connell, reside at the very heart of DCU’s mission and vision and we are delighted to add him to our list of eminent Honorary Graduates.”

Stephen Kelly persuaded to board Faroes flight after management bust-up – reports

Eamon Dunphy: Trapattoni is ‘taking us for a ride’