The Dublin sprint coach who got two of his athletes on to the Olympic podium in Paris in the same event
Team USA's Masai Russell taking gold in the women's 100m hurdles at the Paris Olympics ahead of France's Cyréna Samba-Mayela and Jasmine Camacho-Quinn from Puerto Rico, both of whom are trained by Dubliner John Coghlan. Photograph: Patrick Smith/Getty
“I’d love to coach in Ireland again at some stage, because the talent is definitely there,” Coghlan says. “I always think back to what Arthur Lydiard said, there’s a potential Olympic champion in every village in the world, that’s 100 per cent true. “At the same time there’s only so many you can have in the group, certainly at a world-class level. You actually have a bit of a problem if you have too many running fast. It’s almost like they become rivals, ‘now you’re stopping me’. You think that’s a good problem to have, but it’s actually not.”
“After that I was tipping away in Ireland, still competing a little bit myself, started coaching my own group that included Paul Hession, Brian Gregan, athletes like that. Then around 2014 the reality was I couldn’t afford to do this any longer, part-time. Not in Ireland.” Coghlan’s views on the state of Irish athletics, particularly athletics coaching here, have always been frank, and he’s had “zero” approach from anyone in Athletics Ireland since moving to Orlando.
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