James Nolan competed in the 1,500 metres at both the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympic Games, going out in his heat in Sydney and reaching the semi-finals in Athens.
He took silver over 1,500 metres at the 2000 European Indoor Championships in Ghent, running 3:41.59 behind José Antonio Redolat of Spain, and had won silver over 800 metres at the European Under-23 Championships the year before. His first international medal came as a teenager, a silver at the European Youth Olympic Days.
An international for Ireland from 1996 to 2008, he raced the 800 metres until 2000 before moving up to the 1,500. He competed at two World Championships, three European Championships and six World Indoor Championships, and set personal bests of 1:46.05 for 800 metres in 1999 and 3:35.69 for 1,500 metres in 2003.
He went on to become head of athletics at Paralympics Ireland, and also coaches at UCD, where he studied on a sports scholarship and graduated in sports management.
Athletics
