Thomas Chamney represented Ireland in the men’s 800 metres at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, finishing 5th in his heat in a time of 1:47.66.

His selection for Beijing was one of the most controversial in Irish athletics – both Chamney and his great rival David Campbell had attained only the B standard, and the Olympic Council of Ireland had long stated that only A standards would be accepted. On the week of the national championships, the OCI reversed its position and accepted B standards, setting up a winner-takes-all race-off at the Irish nationals that Chamney won.

From Clonmel, Co. Tipperary and brought up in Dublin, Chamney attended Kilkenny College and St Columba’s College before taking up a five-year scholarship at the University of Notre Dame in 2002, where he studied English and became one of the university’s most decorated track athletes – a three-time All-American, four-time Big East champion and twice named an ESPN Academic All-American.

He developed a devoted online following for his training journals on TrackShark.com, that earned him fans across the United States. He trained under Spanish coach Enrique Pascual – who had guided Fermín Cacho to 1500m gold at the 1992 Olympics – in Soria before returning to Ireland. After Beijing he ran a personal best of 1:45.41 at the Bislett Games in Oslo in 2009 and went on to compete at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin and the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona.

He was a five-time Irish senior 800 metres champion.