Des McGann competed in the men’s marathon at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, finishing 42nd in 2:28:31.

His preparation had been affected by a bout of influenza in the final weeks before the race, and he ran a measured race to complete the course on a difficult day. Selected on the basis of his second-place finish at the national marathon championship in Limerick in April 1972, McGann was one of three Irish marathon runners at Munich alongside Donie Walsh and Danny McDaid.

The imaginative Munich marathon course was shaped like the mascot for the 1972 Games, the dachshund dog Waldi, and was essentially flat and well-shaded. McGann’s cautious race management reflected both his illness and his experience at the distance.