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Irish athletics has lost another giant with the death of Jerry Kiernan, who leaves behind a legacy as one of Ireland’s foremost distance runners and coaches.
The 67-year-old was a native of Listowel, Co Kerry, and he lived in Dublin for most of his adult life.
He had many achievements in the course of his career. He finished in ninth place in the marathon at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, where his Irish teammate John Treacy won the silver medal.
Mr Kiernan won the Dublin Marathon in 1982 and 1992 and in 1976 he became the seventh Irishman to break the four-minute mile when he ran 3:59.2 in London.
They cried, they laughed, they reflected. For those who knew Jerry Kiernan, this had all come too soon, a traumatic, impossibly grim situation that made no sense.
On Wednesday night, Kiernan had been texting friends shortly before going to bed, cracking a joke to one of them about Donald Trump. Hours later, he was gone.
The 67-year-old passed away in the early hours of Thursday morning and the cause is not yet known, though Kiernan had been struggling with his health for months and dealing with stomach complaints.
He had never been diagnosed with Covid-19, but had battled fatigue for a sustained period and thought he might have contracted it at some point. For those who knew him, he leaves behind a gaping void.