Keith Hanlon competed in the men’s individual recurve archery at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, finishing 22nd overall in a performance that represented the finest competitive achievement by an Irish archer in Olympic competition.

From Blessington, Co. Wicklow, Hanlon was among the last competitors to receive confirmation of his Atlanta selection – the news arriving just two days before the team departed – but had continued his preparation in anticipation of the belated call-up.

In the ranking round at Atlanta he shot a national record of 650 points, qualifying 34th, before defeating a Slovenian archer in the round of 64 to set up a round of 32 contest with Korean Jang Yong-Ho – who had two gold medals and a silver in his Olympic collection by the time he retired in 2004. The result remained in doubt until the final series of six arrows was completed, with Jang ultimately prevailing.

Hanlon’s 22nd place overall was virtually the maximum achievable for a single archer without significant federation infrastructure behind him. He subsequently competed at 12 consecutive Target World Championships from 1993 onwards.