Written At Olympic Park Melbourne Poem by Francis Duggan

Here in Melbourne's Olympic Park now greyhound track
I sit in old stand and the years roll back
To fifty six when I was nine years old
And Delany here from Dublin won his gold.

In Ireland in those days there was no T.V.
And I with others listened to the radio commentary
In a farmhouse in Millstreet in Claraghatlea
That was coming to Ireland from Melbourne far away.

The 1500 hundred Olympic final for men
And we all hoped Delany he would win
A twenty four years wait for gold since Tisdall and O Callaghan
And now victory would be sweet for Irishman.

The race began with Delany to the rear
And we listened in our hearts a silent prayer
That at the finish Ronnie would reign supreme
For sake of Eire, the shamrock and the green.

And the commentator roared Delany's moving quick
And he's sprinting past them with his final kick
He's taken the tape Delany he was won
And the outsider from Ireland the near impossible had done.

Mere words cannot describe our sense of joy
And in farmhouse kitchen caps and hats did fly
We hugged each other for sake of happiness
And one never forget a memory like this.

And what was it like for the Irish who were here
In Olympic Park in pent up atmosphere
When Delany took the tape and raised his hands
Signalling a famous victory for Ireland? .

And then he knelt and kissed the Melbourne ground
With Irish cheers re-echoing all around
He had shattered Aussie and the Aussie pride
The hopes and dreams of John Landy destroyed.

And all of that now seems so long ago
But the legend of Delany's run still grow
And the Irish who still live retain the memory
Of a day that lives on in Irish sporting history.

I sit here in Olympic stand in Melbourne greyhound track
At final bend the favourite dog falling back
And the outsider race up into first place
Just like Ron Delany did in his great race.