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06 Sept 2025

Here are Donegal's previous Olympians

There will be a sizeable Donegal interest in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and the county has a proud history of people from Donegal or people who were attached to its sports clubs competing at the Olympics

Click on the arrows to go through Donegal's previous Olympians


Danny McDaid (Athletics; 1972, 1976)

The Letterkenny man, the 'Flying Postman', took in the Olympic Games in 1972 and 1976, doing the men's marathon in both Munich and Montreal.

He ran Munich in 2 hours 22 minutes, but was hampered by injury before Montreal. Before travelling to Canada, he ran 2:13:06 in March of ‘76, a time that would have earned him a top six place in the Olympics.

Once he recovered, Danny – a four-time national marathon champion - was back to his best, coming eighth in the New York marathon in late '76.

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