Carlos O’Connell competed in the men’s decathlon at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, finishing 29th with a score of 7,310 points – the first Irish athlete to compete in the decathlon since Bob Tisdall made his debut in the event at the Los Angeles 1932 Games.

From Rathvilly, Co. Carlow, O’Connell was a magnificent all-round athlete who had the distinction of breaking the longest-standing national record in Irish athletics history. This was Peter O’Connor’s famous long jump record of 7.61 metres, set on 5 August 1901, which O’Connell finally surpassed on 2 June 1980 – a record that had stood for 79 years.

Qualifying for the Olympic decathlon standard was described as ‘a phenomenal achievement in itself and has not since been repeated by an Irish athlete.’