Jim Kelly competed in the men’s 3000 metres steeplechase at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games, having won the All-Ireland senior cross country championship with the Galway team in 1920 before emigrating to England where he joined Sutton Harriers of St Helens and specialised in the steeplechase.

Born in the small village of Williamstown, County Galway, he had been a sprinter in his youth with the Ballinasloe Harriers before developing into a steeplechaser of sufficient quality to earn Olympic selection.

Following the Paris Games, he returned to Ireland to join An Garda Síochána, where he served across seven counties over a 40-year career, retiring in 1964 at the rank of Superintendent.