THERE AREN’T TOO many Irish athletes who can compare preparing for the European Championships with growing up around some of the country’s most successful racehorses.
For Jack O’Leary, however, the comparison feels perfectly natural.
The Westmeath distance runner was raised in one of Ireland’s best-known racing families. His father, Eddie, is racing manager for Gigginstown House Stud, while his uncle, Michael O’Leary, is one of the biggest figures in National Hunt racing through Gigginstown’s operation.
As a teenager, Jack even rode out horses for Gordon Elliott before deciding his own sporting future lay elsewhere. “I always say I was born to be a jockey, but ended up being the horse,” he laughed. “That’s my slogan.”
Horse racing remains part of life. He still works part-time in the Gigginstown office and, one day, he wants to return to that world to add value through his own experience of training and racing, delving into the sports science behind the horses. O’Leary sees the potential in crossover there.
But now it’s his turn to prove he’s a thoroughbred too. The 28-year-old will make his senior track championship debut in the 10,000 metres at next week’s European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.
Equally, his family are hugely invested in his athletics career. “My dad is always using horse-racing analogies,” smiled O’Leary, who recently finished second behind his housemate Darragh McElhinney in the 123.ie National Championships 5,000m final.
“At the Irish Championships he loved seeing me go out and just give it to the lads. He was absolutely buzzing to see me lead out the championships.
“I know he’ll be in my ear now before Europeans saying, ‘Make sure you don’t give any of those lads any respect either’.
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“And Michael sends me texts after races. He’s very, very clued in. His daughter, Tianna, ran for Ireland as well, so the whole family understands athletics. They’re all absolutely buzzing to turn on the TV and watch Birmingham.”
Ireland’s Jack O’Leary celebrates after securing team silver at the European Cross Country Championships. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
That family support means everything to O’Leary and, as he recounts the phone call he made to his parents after his magnificent fifth-place finish at last December’s European Cross Country Championships in Portugal, he struggles to get the words out.
They were in Canada visiting his sister, Jodie, and watching the race in the early hours of the morning. “I’m living in their apartment in Dublin, so everything I have now is because of them,” he said.
“I don’t know why I got emotional now. The tears… I don’t often cry. I can’t remember the last time I did.
“But it’s probably just reflecting on how hard things have been. I’m not saying my time was harder than anyone else’s, but we all pour so much into something and sport is unforgiving.
“It doesn’t matter what your sob story is. Sport goes on and people run fast. That’s both the beauty and the beast of sport.”
His journey to Portugal was a long and difficult one. After representing Ireland regularly as a junior, O’Leary spent several years in the NCAA system in the United States before returning home in 2021.
Jack O'Leary (right) recently finished second behind his housemate Darragh McElhinney in the 123.ie National Championships 5,000m final. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
Instead of kicking on, his career stalled. A sacrum stress fracture left him facing months on the sidelines. Performances dried up and so too did his funding.
“I lost funding, everything,” he said. “It wasn’t anyone’s fault. I just wasn’t producing performances good enough to warrant it.
“But you’d be crazy to say there weren’t doubts the whole time about whether you’d ever make it back as a senior international athlete.”
Working with Athletics Ireland’s National Endurance Programme, coach Mark Kenneally, senior S&C coach Martina McCarthy, and the team at the Sport Ireland Institute, O’Leary gradually rebuilt both his body and his confidence.
The breakthrough finally came at the Euro Cross. His finish matched the best ever by an Irishman at the championships and helped Ireland secure a historic men’s team silver medal.
“It was the high of my life,” he said. “It was the most incredible moment. I nearly pinch myself every day trying to remember if it was real.
“Thinking back to the Euro Cross podium, I think everyone could see it among all of us. We’ve all been on our own journeys and that moment, celebrating with all your friends with medals around your neck… I never envisioned in my career that I’d be standing on a European podium with an Irish team.”
Ireland’s senior men’s team of Jack O’Leary, Brian Fay, Cormac Dalton, Darragh McElhinney, and Efrem Gidey celebrate their team silver medal. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
Since then, he has worked towards qualifying for Birmingham and last month’s silver in Santry suggests he is in a good place. “I’m trying to get used to everything all over again,” he said.
“I ran loads of European Under-20 Championships and World Championships, then I was in the NCAA system for years. So I have plenty of experience and, at this stage, I try not to let the moment get the better of me.
“I know I have a job to do – run 25 laps as fast as I can and try to put it up to the best of Europe. You’re dreaming of being in the middle of that 10k and now it’s here. That’s been the dream every hard day since Euro Cross.”
Yet O’Leary also revealed that he is weighing up whether his future lies in the marathon.
“The Olympics is everything,” he said. “The question after Europeans is, am I going down the marathon route? Am I going down the 10K route? When do I actually make that jump? That will be decided after these championships, really. It’s all with the focus of LA being the goal.
“It would be unbelievable to be at the World Championships, but there’s a chance I could be going down the marathon route, setting myself up for 2028 to give myself the best chance of being there and being a seasoned marathon runner by that stage.”
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Jack O'Leary: 'I was born to be a jockey, but ended up being the horse'
THERE AREN’T TOO many Irish athletes who can compare preparing for the European Championships with growing up around some of the country’s most successful racehorses.
For Jack O’Leary, however, the comparison feels perfectly natural.
The Westmeath distance runner was raised in one of Ireland’s best-known racing families. His father, Eddie, is racing manager for Gigginstown House Stud, while his uncle, Michael O’Leary, is one of the biggest figures in National Hunt racing through Gigginstown’s operation.
As a teenager, Jack even rode out horses for Gordon Elliott before deciding his own sporting future lay elsewhere. “I always say I was born to be a jockey, but ended up being the horse,” he laughed. “That’s my slogan.”
Horse racing remains part of life. He still works part-time in the Gigginstown office and, one day, he wants to return to that world to add value through his own experience of training and racing, delving into the sports science behind the horses. O’Leary sees the potential in crossover there.
But now it’s his turn to prove he’s a thoroughbred too. The 28-year-old will make his senior track championship debut in the 10,000 metres at next week’s European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.
Equally, his family are hugely invested in his athletics career. “My dad is always using horse-racing analogies,” smiled O’Leary, who recently finished second behind his housemate Darragh McElhinney in the 123.ie National Championships 5,000m final.
“At the Irish Championships he loved seeing me go out and just give it to the lads. He was absolutely buzzing to see me lead out the championships.
“I know he’ll be in my ear now before Europeans saying, ‘Make sure you don’t give any of those lads any respect either’.
“And Michael sends me texts after races. He’s very, very clued in. His daughter, Tianna, ran for Ireland as well, so the whole family understands athletics. They’re all absolutely buzzing to turn on the TV and watch Birmingham.”
That family support means everything to O’Leary and, as he recounts the phone call he made to his parents after his magnificent fifth-place finish at last December’s European Cross Country Championships in Portugal, he struggles to get the words out.
They were in Canada visiting his sister, Jodie, and watching the race in the early hours of the morning. “I’m living in their apartment in Dublin, so everything I have now is because of them,” he said.
“But it’s probably just reflecting on how hard things have been. I’m not saying my time was harder than anyone else’s, but we all pour so much into something and sport is unforgiving.
“It doesn’t matter what your sob story is. Sport goes on and people run fast. That’s both the beauty and the beast of sport.”
His journey to Portugal was a long and difficult one. After representing Ireland regularly as a junior, O’Leary spent several years in the NCAA system in the United States before returning home in 2021.
Instead of kicking on, his career stalled. A sacrum stress fracture left him facing months on the sidelines. Performances dried up and so too did his funding.
“I lost funding, everything,” he said. “It wasn’t anyone’s fault. I just wasn’t producing performances good enough to warrant it.
Working with Athletics Ireland’s National Endurance Programme, coach Mark Kenneally, senior S&C coach Martina McCarthy, and the team at the Sport Ireland Institute, O’Leary gradually rebuilt both his body and his confidence.
The breakthrough finally came at the Euro Cross. His finish matched the best ever by an Irishman at the championships and helped Ireland secure a historic men’s team silver medal.
“It was the high of my life,” he said. “It was the most incredible moment. I nearly pinch myself every day trying to remember if it was real.
“Thinking back to the Euro Cross podium, I think everyone could see it among all of us. We’ve all been on our own journeys and that moment, celebrating with all your friends with medals around your neck… I never envisioned in my career that I’d be standing on a European podium with an Irish team.”
Since then, he has worked towards qualifying for Birmingham and last month’s silver in Santry suggests he is in a good place. “I’m trying to get used to everything all over again,” he said.
“I ran loads of European Under-20 Championships and World Championships, then I was in the NCAA system for years. So I have plenty of experience and, at this stage, I try not to let the moment get the better of me.
“I know I have a job to do – run 25 laps as fast as I can and try to put it up to the best of Europe. You’re dreaming of being in the middle of that 10k and now it’s here. That’s been the dream every hard day since Euro Cross.”
Yet O’Leary also revealed that he is weighing up whether his future lies in the marathon.
“The Olympics is everything,” he said. “The question after Europeans is, am I going down the marathon route? Am I going down the 10K route? When do I actually make that jump? That will be decided after these championships, really. It’s all with the focus of LA being the goal.
“It would be unbelievable to be at the World Championships, but there’s a chance I could be going down the marathon route, setting myself up for 2028 to give myself the best chance of being there and being a seasoned marathon runner by that stage.”
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