Martin Fagan represented Ireland in the men’s marathon at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, becoming the first Irishman to compete in the Olympic marathon in 16 years.

He was forced to withdraw at the 25-mile mark with a hamstring injury – an agonising end to a race he had worked so hard to reach.

From Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, Fagan ran for Mullingar Harriers before taking up a scholarship at Providence College in Rhode Island, where he was a four-time All-American and won back-to-back BIG EAST cross country titles. He qualified for Beijing at the Dubai Marathon in January 2008 with a personal best of 2:14:06.

After the Games he continued to develop, breaking John Treacy’s 21-year-old Irish half-marathon record with a time of 1:00:57 in The Hague in 2009 and winning the Boston Athletic Association Half Marathon.

In late 2011 he tested positive for EPO. He immediately admitted his guilt and accepted a two-year ban without protest – a period he subsequently described with candour, including the personal cost of the violation and his determination to understand the mistake he had made. He returned from the ban in early 2014 and went on to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics, but retired from running in June 2015 citing his mental health. He was based in Flagstaff, Arizona throughout his competitive career.