Irish Olympic runner Ciarán Ó Lionáird dies suddenly aged 38

Irish athletics has been left shocked and saddened by the news that Ciarán Ó Lionáird, the former Irish 1,500 metres champion and London 2012 Olympian, has died suddenly at the age of 38.

Ó Lionáird was found dead in Canada on Tuesday morning, according to The Irish Times.

The Cork native and Leevale club member, who had been based in the US since 2011, gained considerable popularity during his relatively short international career and the news of his sudden death was greeted with similar shock throughout the wider athletics world.

In a running career frequently plagued by injury, Ó Lionáird’s conspicuous talent as a junior athlete was often thwarted, before he made his senior breakthrough in 2011, when in the one summer he improved his 1,500m best from 3:48.36 to 3:34.46.

That time qualified him for the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea and the following year’s London Olympics.

His laid-back and old-school approach to training and racing brought him many admirers, and he became affectionately known as “Mad Len”.

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Ó Lionáird was also outspoken on matters on and off the track, including the difficulties most elite athletes face trying to make a living from the sport, and later the challenges they face when entering retirement.

Despite his inexperience, Ó Lionáird made the final in Daegu in 2011, where he finished in 10th position. Two months later he moved to the Nike Oregon Project, based in Portland, Oregon, to train under the controversial coach Alberto Salazar.

Although that was short-lived, he soon switched to the Nike Track Club Elite, a sort of alternative training camp in Eugene, Oregon, to train under Britain’s Mark Rowland.