Ireland’s golden moment

What indeed? Why reflect on the Atlanta medals of a discredited cheat at a time of genuine celebration?
With Smith’s tarnished swimming golds airbrushed from history for the moment, O’Connor’s achievement in the showjumping arena was as much a triumph of innocence as excellence. No performance-enhancing substances, no suspicion, just one 24-year-old from County Kildare with a dream and an exceptional horse, Waterford Crystal.
After his sublime clear round at the Markopoulo Stadium last Friday night, it still looked as if the best color of medal O’Connor might have hoped for was bronze. But his compatriot Jessica Kurten slipped down the rankings, and then Britain’s Nick Skelton succumbed to the pressure with 12 faults, and suddenly he was Ireland’s first ever-individual showjumping Olympic champion.
It wasn’t as if O’Connor has risen without trace — he had been on the international circuit for four years and had been part of the winning Irish Aga Khan trophy team at the prestigious Dublin horse show — but this victory was still something of a surprise.
Equally, it wasn’t as if his preparations for the Games had gone perfectly. Before leaving for Athens, his car, a lucky jumping coat and some cash were stolen from his home on the Dublin-Kildare border. Then the cell phone of his girlfriend, Rachel Wyse, was stolen in Athens, then the pair were involved in a minor car accident, and then he and Waterford Crystal performed poorly in the Olympic team event.
However, it emerged that the horse had a muscle problem around his neck, and after treatment he came out in the individual event and performed superbly with four faults in the first round, before that memorable clear round to win the gold medal.
Even if before his headline act in Athens O’Connor wasn’t exactly a household name in Ireland, he has always had strong genetic and business connections. His grandfather is Karl Mullen, who captained the Irish rugby team to a grand slam and a triple crown in 1948 and ’49, while his godfather, former Heinz supremo and publishing tycoon Tony O’Reilly, paved the way for valuable sponsorship from Waterford Wedgwood and Independent News and Media.
“When Cian was 14, he told me he wanted to be a world class showjumper,” O’Reilly said last weekend, “and later, my wife and I bought the horse Waterford Crystal at Cian’s recommendation, so a marriage that started with a determined glint in a little boy’s eye 10 years ago ended with the ultimate achievement of an Olympic gold medal.”
O’Connor has also experienced personal heartache when two years ago his girlfriend of the time, Hazel O’Callaghan, a daughter of the well-known Irish property developer and hotelier Owen O’Callaghan, was killed in a freak accident at his stables near Ashbourne in county Meath.
Following his gold medal win that put a gloss on a disappointing Irish performance at the Games, O’Connor led the team back into Dublin last Monday and he will be guest of honor at both a state reception, and at a reception held by President Mary McAleese.