Legendary athlete Eamonn Coghlan receives 2006 Texaco Sportstars Hall of Fame Award
DUBLIN, IRELAND - 19 NOVEMBER 2006 - Eamonn Coghlan, one of the most legendary figures in the history of Irish sport, has been chosen as the worthy recipient of this year's 2006 Texaco Hall of Fame Award.
Born in Drimnagh, the amiable Dubliner achieved a level of success in domestic and international competitions that made him one of the biggest names in world sport and one of the most successful ever Irish sportsmen.
Despite being twice pipped for an Olympic medal - finishing fourth in the 1,500m in 1976, and again in the 5,000m in 1980 - Eamonn was both a world champion and world record holder. Nicknamed the ‘Chairman of the Boards’ because of his incredible success on the indoor circuit, he set the world record in the indoor mile run at 3:50.6 in 1981, and again in 1983 at Meadowlands, New Jersey, running at 3:49.78. This record stood until 1997 when it was broken by Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj in a time of 3:48.45.
His 1983 time remains the fastest mile ever run in the United States, and one of only three sub-3:50 miles run on American soil. He also set the record for the indoor 2,000 metres run at 4:54.07 in 1987 - a record which stood until Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia ran 4:52.86 in 1998.
Coghlan won the world famous Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose games in NYC's Madison Square Garden on a record seven occasions in 1977, 1979-1981, 1983, 1985 and 1987. He finally dispelled the pain of his Olympic finals when he won the 5,000 metres at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki with a scintillating sprint finish. He continued running competitively for quite some time, and in 1994 became the first man over age 40 to run a sub-four minute mile.
In the course of his career, Eamonn was presented with a Texaco Sportstars Award on five separate occasions - in 1975, 1976, 1977, 1981 and 1983.
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Editors’ notes
- Texaco (Ireland) Ltd. is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, which markets its fuels under the Texaco brand across Europe, among other markets. Chevron Corporation is one of the world’s leading energy companies. With more than 55,000 employees, Chevron conducts business in approximately 180 countries around the world, producing and transporting crude oil and natural gas, and refining, marketing and distributing fuels and other energy products. Chevron is based in San Ramon, California, USA. More information on Chevron is available at www.chevron.com
- There are approximately 250 Texaco-branded service stations in Ireland and more than 2,000 across Europe. Texaco Ireland also holds an equity stake in four fuel storage facilities in the Republic of Ireland. For more information, visit www.texaco.ie
For any media enquiries about the Texaco Sportstars awards, call Don Hall, Hall PR on 01 660 9377 or email don@hall.ie. For further information on Texaco Ireland, contact Daniel Schraibman on 0044 207 719 4459 or email danielschraibman@chevron.com
