Olympian Finnerty to be honoured by American alma mater

Mullingar Olympian Cormac Finnerty is to be inducted into the Hall of Fame at his alma mater, Clemson University in South Carolina.

The Mullingar Harrier, who represented his country at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, attended Clemson from 1989 to 1994. During this period he made the All American honour list on five occasions, thanks to his exploits at 3,000m and 5,000m both on the track and in cross country competion.

More than 20 years after he left South Carolina, he still holds the university’s outdoor track record for the 5,000m.

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner this week, he said it was a “very pleasant surprise” to receive the news that he will inducted into the Hall of Fame at Clemson, which, from a sporting perspective, is one of the most prestigious universities in the US.

Training facilities in Ireland were rudimentary at best in Ireland during the early 1990s. The state of the art track and gym at Clemson were a big culture shock for Cormac when he arrived over.
After “hitting the ground running” during this first cross country season and a string of good performances, Cormac was beset by a series of injuries and missed all of the track season during his first or freshman year.

Once his injuries cleared in his second year and he became less homesick, he started to impress in competition and finishing among the medals at the national finals.

Looking back on his American college career, he says that the high quality of the training and competition were the making of him as an athlete. The fact that the 1980s and 1990s were a golden age for Irish long distance running meant that he was often up against fellow Irishmen in races.

“The competition in America was way stronger that what I was going to get in Ireland and is still very competitive. I got to race all over the country and raced a lot of [Irish] guys.”

He will be inducted into the Clemson Hall of Fame at a special ceremony during the university’s homecoming weekend at the end of September.
The last time he visited was in 1997, when he and other Atlantan Olympians were honoured.