Even while working as a full-time pharmacist and later rearing a young family, the Dublin runner just kept breaking new ground
Mary Purcell congratulates Norwegian legend Grete Waitz on winning the World Cross-Country Championship in Limerick in March 1979; Purcell herself finished in sixth place. Photograph: Pat Langan, which will run every Saturday in The Irish Times up to the beginning of the 2024 Olympic Games, on Friday, July 26th
For Purcell, nothing had seemed impossible, even when women’s distance running was still anything but fashionable, and when she was also working as a full-time pharmacist, and later rearing a young family. Mary was one of the most stubborn athletes I ever came across in my life, and also one of the most entertaining
Born in Dublin in 1949, Purcell was 23 when she competed in her first Olympics in Munich in 1972, and although she improved her Irish 1,500m record to 4:16.43, she finished sixth in her heat, unable to progress. By the start of those Moscow Olympics, another 66 countries had joined the US boycott, meaning only 80 countries competed. The Soviet Union topped the medal table, winning a record 80 golds, 69 silvers and 46 bronzes, followed by East Germany with 47 golds, 37 silvers and 42 bronzes; the next best country was Bulgaria, with eight golds, 16 silvers and 17 bronzes.
Although originally inspired by the Mexico Olympics of 1968, Purcell never held any great ambition to reach that stage until, by chance, it opened up before her. Even from those early running days, Purcell did not like being told when or how or indeed against who she could race. Another of her ground-breaking runs came in 1978 at the UCD track in Belfield when, to the consternation of officials, she lined out in a men’s 5,000m, dropping out at 3,000m with a time of 8:51.4 – the then fastest ever by an Irish woman over this “new” distance.
To this day, for anyone who knew Purcell, her decision to boycott those Moscow Games on her own conscientious grounds came as no surprise. Plenty of Irish women have run faster, and won more medals, but Purcell unquestionably helped to show them the way. And to this day, she still remains the only Irish athlete to stand up for what she truly believed in when it came to the Olympics.In the beginning there were none at all. When Charles Pierre de Frédy, latter Baron de Coubertin, revived the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, he deliberately maintained the condition only men could compete.
Women made up under two per cent of the 1900 Olympic Games’ total athlete participation, which included the first women’s gold medal winner in British tennis player Charlotte Cooper
Paris-2024 Greatest-Irish-Olympic-Stories-Never-Told
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Electric Picnic 2024: Mary Kennedy and Mary McAleese bring podcast to MindfieldMary Kennedy and Mary McAleese are bringing their groundbreaking podcast series to Electric Picnic next month.
Read more »
Dublin Bus chief urges city council executive not to ‘water down’ Dublin City Centre Transport PlanBilly Hann fears for future of traffic plan if it is delayed until after general election
Read more »
Book of evidence presented in Ruth Purcell Healy case over death of sonThe mother of Matthew Healy appeared in Waterford District Court on Thursday
Read more »
Locals object to Google pub plan for Dublin 4Local residents on Dublin's Barrow Street have called on Dublin City Council to refuse planning permission to Google Ireland's plans for a new Dublin 4 pub.
Read more »
Second man arrested in multi-million euro Dublin cannabis seizure investigationA man in his 20s arrested on Friday has been released but a second man in his 50s has since been arrested as part of an investigation into the €6.8 million cannabis haul
Read more »
Bohemians sign New Zealand international Greive from St MirrenThe 25-year-old has joined the Dublin club on a multi-year contract.
Read more »