Jim Fanning followed his father’s footsteps to become a member of Donore Harriers in circa 1958. Both were national high jump champions and Jim set an Irish record of 2.06m at the AAA Games at Crystal Palace, London in July 1973. He won European gold and World silver in the master’s grade. Jim was Donore Harriers president between 1987 and 1990 and until recently was coaching at the club. In this fascinating interview he mentions sporting legends Brendan O’Reilly, Tom O’Riordan and Brian Hewson… and recounts a great career in athletics

STANDARD QUESTIONS

PLACE AND YEAR OF BIRTH? Terenure, Dublin in 1946

WHERE WERE YOU EDUCATED?St Mary’s College, Rathmines and UCD (B. Comm.)

WHAT WAS YOUR MAIN CAREER PATH?Accountant and later on Course Bookmaker

IN WHAT YEAR DID YOU JOIN DONORE HARRIERS? I got involved with Donore Harriers around 1958

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DONORE HARRIERS? My father, Pat, was an active athlete and then committee member since 1930s

WERE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY OTHER CLUB BEFORE JOINING DONORE HARRIERS? No, only the boy scouts

DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN ANY OTHER SPORT? I played rugby at a low level. My last rugby match was 6 days before breaking the Irish high jump record in Germany in 1972. Rugby and high jumping don’t mix!

WHAT WAS/IS YOUR FAVOURITE ATHLETICS EVENT?My favourite events are high and triple jumps, 110m hurdles and decathlon

WHAT WAS/IS YOUR PRESENT ROLE(S) AT THE CLUB?I’m proud of having been a former president of Donore Harriers and was always involved with the club. Up to last year, I helped Graham (Hopkins) and Niall (Lynch), who are doing a great job coaching the younger athletes

WHO WERE/ARE YOUR SPORTING INSPIRATIONS/INFLUENCES?Donore Harriers man, Brendan O’Reilly, whose Irish record I broke, was always an inspiration having watched him jumping as a young kid

IS IT TRUE THAT BRENDAN O’REILLY BECAME A CLOSE FAMILY FRIEND? Yes, indeed! When Brendan O’ Reilly returned to Ireland with his new model wife, Linda, in 1959, having graduated from Michigan University, my father organised a flat for them to start their new life here. Brendan, who was unlucky not to make the team for the Melbourne Olympics, due to lack of finance from our athletics body, then got his break in the sports department of Telefis Eireann. The two of them remained good friends over the years, and when my father died in 1974, Brendan sent me a beautiful letter of condolence, which I treasure.

SOCIAL QUESTIONS

WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? Henry Cecil – biography of a top horse trainer

WHAT WAS THE LAST CONCERT YOU ATTENDED?James Blunt in the RDS – a marvellous singer/songwriter

WHAT ARE YOUR 3 FAVOURITE FILMS?
1. The Pianist
2. Philadelphia (Tom Hanks)
3. Race (the story of Jesse Owens)

FAVOURITE COUNTRY VISITED?Iceland.  Competed there with the Irish team in 1973. The day before our competition, there was a chess match in the stadium between the Icelandic and Norwegian champions. It attracted a crowd of 8000 spectators. About 500 came to the athletics!

I must also include Ethiopia. It’s a fascinating country! Our cross-country coach, Mick Bourke set up an athletics club in Yirgalum, a town in southern Ethiopia, around 2004. I made a few visits there coaching long and triple jumping. Unfortunately, there were no facilities for high jumping. I admired the great humanitarian work Mick was doing there. Nearly 100 enthusiastic kids turn up for training at 6am – and later adjourned for breakfast in the local cafe, courtesy of Mick, before going on to school. Mick attended to the physical, mental, educational, and sometimes financial needs of those in the community and did so in a low-key manner. He is indirectly responsible for Irish 5000m champion and new Irish citizen Hiko Tonoso (DSDAC) coming to Ireland.

WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER INTERESTS AWAY FROM ATHLETICS/SPORT?I play bad golf and also, bridge, and enjoy all sport and current affairs

IF DESERTS ISLAND DISCS ASKED YOU TO PLAY 3 SONGS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?
1. Come on Eileen!
2. Everybody hurts (REM)
3. Outnumbered (Dermot Kennedy)

ATHLETICS QUESTIONS

WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BEST ATHLETICS ACHIEVEMENT?Winning the British Indoor Championships in 1974. And as a master athlete, in 1987 getting silver medal in World Master Championships in Melbourne, jumping 1.87 which is still a master’s record

WHAT ARE YOUR BEST MARKS/TIMES (PBs)?High jump 2.06m, Triple Jump 13.95m, 110m Hurdles 16.0, Javelin 53.38m

WHAT WAS A TYPICAL WEEKING TRAINING PLAN?When I was 18, I broke my thigh bone, playing rugby and spent 10 weeks tied to the bed in hospital to recover. I grew about 8cm in that period, which must have been a help for a high jumper. I was in my 20s before I took athletics seriously. I concentrated on strengthening my legs by doing two hard sessions of weights a week in the Apollo Gym off Aungier Street which was frequented by bodybuilders. It improved my leg strength immensely and gave me great confidence. Fifty years ago, there were not the facilities that are available today – no indoor arenas, no synthetic tracks, no foam landing areas, no dietary information and very few coaches. I trained five to six days a week, working on speed, strength, stamina, and suppleness

DO YOU HAVE A FUNNY STORY RELATED TO ATHLETICS/THE CLUB?Competing in a Coca Cola sponsored athletics meeting in Crystal Palace, London, there was heavy rain before the start of the high jump, leaving the take-off area slippery. I asked the chief official to delay the start, but he blankly refused, stating the event had to start at 2pm. I then spoke to Dwight Stones, multiple world high jump holder, about the impasse. Dwight then went to the official saying he won’t jump in those conditions. The competition was delayed an hour, and Dwight went on to win

WHAT ONE CHANGE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE AT DONORE HARRIERS? I would like more of our members to take a greater interest in the running of the club. More should attend the AGM and make it a more sociable occasion.  Also, I think the triple jump is a great event for those who have leg strength and may lack the speed of a long jumper. So, I would like to see more emphasis placed on it

WHO ARE YOU TOP 3 IRISH SPORTSPERSONS OF ALL TIME (all sports)?
1. Ronnie Delany
2. Sonia O’Sullivan
3. Aiden O’Brien (horse trainer)

SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

DID YOU COMPETE AS A JUVENILE/JUNIOR OR SCHOOLS ATHLETE? I competed in athletics at school, but back then I lacked the speed and strength. I finished 3rd in Senior Leinster Schools Championships

WERE YOU FOSBURY FLOP OR THE STRADDLE? I did the Western Roll until Dick Fosbury changed the event in 1968. I then managed to get a few sacks of foam runner from a Dublin mattress- making company.  I then became a flopper

WERE YOU EVER OFFERED AN ATHLETICS SCHOLARSHIP TO THE USA? I was never offered a scholarship. Not good enough at the time

YOU WON A GOLD MEDAL AT THE EUROPEAN MASTERS AT VERONA IN 1988, WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT THAT COMPETITION?I won master’s gold in the beautiful city of Verona in 1988. I had twenty years of enjoyment with master’s athletics, travelling around the world meeting marvellous people and loving the craic. I highly recommend this sport for the more mature athlete

WHICH TO YOU TREASURE THE MOST – THE EUROPEAN MASTERS GOLD MEDAL OR THE WORLD MASTERS SILVER MEDAL FROM 1987?My silver medal in the World Championship was a better performance, as there were jumpers from five continents competing.  There was a three way jump off for the gold and it was a Yugoslavian who prevailed

HOW HAVE YOU REMAINED INVOLVED WITH ATHLETICS SINCE YOU RETIRED FROM COMPETITION? I still take much interest in the club through Facebook and follow the goings on also through Willie Smith and Mr. Donore, Maurice Ahern.

DO YOU KNOW HOW YOUR FATHER PATRICK ‘PAT’ FANNING FIRST BECAME INVOLVED IN THE HIGH JUMP EVENT?My father, Pat won the 1937 high jump Irish Championship, beating another Donore man, Jack Mac Gowran, an actor who starred in such films as Dr. Zhivago and The Exorcist.  Athletics in those days was a much more casual thing, with villages throughout the land organising sport days in their local football field. Prizes could be a barometer, a clock or cloth for a suit.  In the 50s and 60s, Pat attended European Athletic Championships and two Olympics with another Donore stalwart, Pat Mullally, travelling by car.  At home, he officiated at all the athletic events

<NOTE: Donore Harriers has a very proud tradition in the history of Irish high jumping. Richard ‘Dick’ O’Rafferty won a record 15 national titles between 1934 and 1949 and the aforementioned Brendan O’Reilly won 14 national titles between 1950 and 1964 (first 3 as member of St. James Gate). In that period there were two national athletics associations AAUE and NACAI. Pat Fanning won the NACAI title in 1937. Tom Ward and Ronnie Martin won AAUE titles in 1955 and 1962, respectively. Jim Fanning won 3 national high jump titles in 1972, 1973 and 1974 under the rules of the combined BLE association. Brendan O’Reilly (1929- 2001) was selected to represent Ireland at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, but there were no available funds to finance the trip. He was also a household name as a broadcaster, singer, journalist, and actor >

TELL US ABOUT THE FANNING FAMILY CONNECTION WITH THE GREAT TOM O’RIORDAN?When Tom O’ Riordan came back from Idaho University, he worked in my father’s wholesale grocery business in Cuffe Street for a couple of months. He resided with us for a short time. Tom eventually became a sports journalist with the Irish Independent.  In 1964, Tom qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, along with fellow Donore Harriers man, Basil Clifford

<NOTE: Tom O’Riordan was national cross-country champion in 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968 and 1970. Tom finished 9^th in Heat 2 of the 5,000m at the Tokyo Olympics 1964>

YOU ALSO HAVE A STORY ABOUT THE BRITISH MIDDLE-DISTANCE OLYMPIAN BRIAN HEWSON AND YOUR UNCLE’S GREYHOUND? Pat befriended the handsome English runner, Brien Hewson, European 1,500m champion, when he used to come over to race against his nemesis, Ronnie Delany. He would guest in our home in Rathmines. My father introduced Brian to his brother, Jamesy, who was a farmer and greyhound trainer. Jamesy had four unraced greyhounds, and Brian decided to buy the pick of the pack, Clonalvy Romance, after having seen the greyhounds in a trial run on the Harold’s Cross track. It was a Friday evening, and Brian had earlier beaten Ronnie (Delany) in the Billy Morton track meeting in Santry. It created a frenzy of media coverage when Brian flew home with the dog on the following day. The greyhound was entered in the 1960 English Greyhound Derby at White City, London. Having been backed to win the competition at 100/1, against 64 runners, Clonalvy Romance won his semi-final, while the other semi-final was won by his litter brother, Clonalvy Pride, a fabulous feat!  My father and his brothers travelled over for the final on the following Saturday. Clonalvy Romance broke well, led coming around the last bend, but the outsider Duleek Dandy flew home and got over the line by the shortest margin. However, Brian got great fun from his greyhound adventure over the next few years, and there’s an iconic picture on his Wikipedia page of Brian with Clonalvy Romance.  At 86 years old Brian is in good health and is in regular contact with his old friend Ronnie Delany

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SPORTING REGRET? I regret not taking high jumping seriously at an earlier stage

WHAT SIGNIFICANT CHANGES HAVE YOU SEEN IN IRISH ATHLETICS SINCE THE 1960s? MAYBE GIVE A POSITVE AND A NEGATIVE!Athletics in Ireland was divided in the 1960s with two associations, which was holding the sport back.  Also, there was little money available and no back-up for athletes. I was the lone Irish representative at the European Indoor Championships in Gothenburg 1974 and there were RTE cameras there. Yet I had no financial help from our athletics body, having to pay my own way over. Today, we have wonderful facilities with the Indoor Arena at Abbotstown nearby, and a host of synthetic tracks available. However, life is hard for all, these days with being isolated from Coronavirus. So, I urge our members to stay strong, stay focused, stay training and also, stay connected.  Athletics is a great destresser. And it won’t be long before the sport recommences and we meet our friends, and the good times will return

AND FINALLY, YOU PENNED A POEM ABOUT THE HIGH JUMP? A poem called ‘Seven Foot’. My aim was to jump 7-foot, but alas it never happened!

SEVEN-FOOT by Jim Fanning
Oh seven-foot I long to reach you
My body strives to win your soul
I’ve sacrificed the wine and good life
To be your fancy, you’re my goal
Those lonely hours spent getting stronger
Each year I train a little longer
The stress, the ache, the pain, the anger
Seven foot, it’s you I long for
Oh, seven foot, you stand too mighty
You only flirt with those more flighty
Into your bosom I’ve been denied
Yet I’m more a man for having tried