Christy O’Brien competed in the men’s coxed four at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games and went on to compete at the Moscow 1980 Olympics in the coxed pair, where illness devastated his and his crewmates’ campaign. In Montreal he was a member of the GSBC coxed four alongside Michael Ryan, Jim Muldoon, Willie Ryan and cox Liam Redmond that finished 7th overall after winning the little final, following a heartbreaking semi-final where three crabs cost them a final place.

At Moscow, paired with Denis Rice and cox Liam Williams, the crew had been among Ireland’s most high-profile medal contenders – recording two second-place finishes at the Lucerne pre-Olympic regatta – but O’Brien fell ill before the opening heat and the campaign was destroyed by the widespread illness that afflicted the Irish team throughout those Games.