Athletics Ireland saddened at passing of Frank Murphy

Athletics Ireland are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of legendary Irish athlete Frank Murphy.

The two-time Olympian, who was inducted into the Athletics Ireland Hall of Fame in 2014, had been fighting Parkinson’s disease for the last number of years and passed away last night.  

Murphy will be fondly remembered for his deeds on and off the track. The engaging Dubliner starred for Villanova as part of the pipeline of top Irish milers in the University.  In 1969 Murphy beat John Whetton over 1500m in the British AAA Championships only for the roles to be narrowly reversed at the European Athletics Championships in Athens. His finishing time of 3:39.51 was a then Irish record.

The Drumcondra native added another silver to his collection a year later in the 1500m at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Vienna and represented Ireland at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico and again in Munich in 1972.

Honours

European silver medal 1500 metres Athens 1969

European indoor silver medal 1500 metres Vienna 1970

Competed in Olympics 68/72

Was inducted into Irish Hall of Fame 2014

PB's

800m 1:47.4

1500m 3:38.5

1 mile 3:58.1