Danny McDaid competed in the men’s marathon at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, finishing 23rd in 2:22:25 – becoming the first Irishman to cross the finish line at those Games and one of three Irish marathon runners selected.

He went on to compete in the marathon at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games. McDaid was selected for Montreal having won the high-quality Irish marathon championship in Limerick on 11 April 1976 with a winning time of 2:13:06 – the fastest marathon ever run by an Irishman at that time.

He and his fellow selectees Neil Cusack and Jim McNamara were ranked in the top twenty of the sixty-seven Montreal starters. Unfortunately McDaid picked up an injury a week prior to the Montreal race, and the marathon was run in continuous rain. He finished 42nd in 2:27:07, a performance he considers one of the worst of his career.

A postman from Glenswilly near Letterkenny, County Donegal, McDaid was a four-time national marathon champion and took part in nine World Cross Country Championships, captaining the Irish senior cross country team from 1975 to 1981.

He finished 11th at the 1979 World Cross Country Championships in Limerick when John Treacy won the world title for Ireland. The running track at the Aura Leisure Centre in Letterkenny is named in his honour, as is the Danny McDaid 15k race.