Dave Guiney was a distinguished sports journalist, historian and author who also competed as a shot putter at the 1948 London Olympic Games, arriving as the reigning AAA shot put champion - a title he had also won in 1947 - having equalled the long-standing Irish record of Denis Horgan with a throw of 14.88m (48'10") at the AAUE championships at College Park on 12 June 1948. From Kanturk, County Cork, the son of John Guiney, a solicitor and Nationalist MP for Cork North (1913-1918), he was steeped in the athletic traditions of Duhallow and won several national senior shot put titles starting with the NACAI title in 1944. He resigned from a civil service career in 1946 after being refused leave of absence to represent Ireland at the European Athletic Championships in Oslo - a turning point that launched a celebrated career in sports journalism and authorship. He joined the Irish Independent and authored over thirty books on sport and the Olympic movement, whose work brought public recognition to the achievements of John Pius Boland, Con O'Kelly, Tom Kiely and many others. He served as the OCI's accredited press attache at the Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 Games. He had reached a personal best of 15.41m (50'7") in Draperstown, County Derry in 1945, though only the national championship mark was accepted for record purposes. In London he did not advance to the final throws. He was part of the AAUE contingent admitted through IOC intervention.
Athletics
