The Irishman Who Ran for England by Jim Hogan

 

Nothing came easy for Jim Hogan. As a newborn baby he was given up for dead, only to be rescued by a visitor who declared, ‘He may be nearly dead but he will be famous one day.’ How prophetic that visitor was. Hogan came late to athletics but his career thereafter was a brilliant series of victories. Self-trained for many years, he reached the peak of his athletic career after moving to England in 1960. In highly unusual circumstances, Hogan won a gold medal in the marathon of the 1966 European Championships in Budapest, running in an English vest. Why the best Irish long-distance runner of his generation was obliged to declare for England is an extraordinary story. That he was successful in these circumstances added to the legend of the ‘mad Irishman’.

The enigmatic Hogan, who has also had a lifelong passion for horses, might have chosen a career as a jump jockey but recognised that his sporting potential lay with athletics. Combative, outspoken, colourful and driven to succeed, he battled a cruel bureaucracy in Irish athletics.

This is one man's inspiring story of overcoming the odds and realising his dream.