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Noel Carroll (athlete)

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For persons of a similar name, see Noel Carroll (disambiguation).

Noel Carroll
Personal information
NationalityIrish
Born(1941-12-07)7 December 1941
Annagassan, Ireland
Died23 October 1998(1998-10-23) (aged 56)
Dublin, Ireland
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight79 kg (174 lb)
Sport
SportRunning
Event(s)400 metres, 800 metres, 4 × 800 metres relay
College teamVillanova Wildcats
ClubCivil Service Harriers A.C., Dublin

Noel Carroll (7 December 1941 – 23 October 1998) was an Irish middle distance runner who won a bronze medal in the 1969 European Indoor Athletics Championships. He set European and World Records in the 1960s.[1] He became the Dublin Corporation's first official spokesman, and later the chief executive of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, and led the group which founded the Dublin Marathon.[2]

Career

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Carroll was born in Annagassan, County Louth, in 1941, and left school to join the Army where he began running. In 1962, while competing in the Millrose Games in New York City, he was recruited by "Jumbo Elliott" and attended Villanova University, where he joined the university's athletics team, the Villanova Wildcats and won a number of track championships.[3]

Carroll won the British AAA Championships title in the 880 yards event at the 1963 AAA Championships[4] and would go on to win two more AAA titles at the 1966 AAA Championships and 1968 AAA Championships.[5][6][7]

At Villanova, he ran a sub-four-minute mile and in 1964, was the anchor for the team which broke the 4 × 880 yard relay World Record.[1][3] In the same year, he also set the European Indoor record for the 880 yards and competed in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in the Men's 800 metres finishing just outside of the qualifying places in heat 5 of the first round with a time of 1:51.1. When running against Bill Crothers in 1964, Sports Illustrated described Carroll as "one of the best middle-distance runners in the world".[8]

He represented Ireland in the 400 metres (time: 46.8) and the 800 metres (time: 1:49) in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, and continued to win national championships (14 in total). He won a bronze medal in the 800 m at the 1969 European Indoor Championships in Belgrade.

In 1972, he became the spokesman for the Dublin Corporation (now known as Dublin City Council), a post he held until 1996, when he joined the Dublin Chamber of Commerce as its chief executive.[3]

Dublin Marathon

[edit]

In 1980, Carroll led a group which approached the Business Houses Athletic Association and the Dublin Corporation with the idea for the Dublin Marathon. Carroll was also among the 2,100 people who competed in the race that year.[9] The winner of the Marathon receives the Noel Carroll Memorial Trophy presented each year by one of Carroll's children.[10][11]

Noel Carroll died on 23 October 1998, after suffering a heart attack while training at University College Dublin.[2][3] In 2008, Carroll's four children took part in the Dublin Marathon to raise money for the Noel Carroll Building, the headquarters of a project in Kolkata run by GOAL, a charity for which Carroll had served as the chairman.

Personal life

[edit]

Carroll's grandson is the Irish rugby international player, Jordi Murphy.[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Noel Carroll Biography and Statistics". Olympics at Sports Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
  2. ^ a b Butcher, Pat (27 October 1998). "Obituary: Noel Carroll". The Independent. Independent News and Media Ltd. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d Thomas, Jnr, Robert McG (26 October 1998). "Noel Carroll, 56, Star Runner And Fitness Devotee, Is Dead". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
  4. ^ "Carroll sprints in". Ireland's Saturday Night. 13 July 1963. Retrieved 5 May 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  6. ^ "AAA Championships (men)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  7. ^ "Carroll sprints in". Ireland's Saturday Night. 13 July 1963. Retrieved 5 May 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ Creamer, Robert (10 February 1964). "Young Druggist's Sure Rx". Sports Illustrated. Time Inc. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
  9. ^ "Upcoming Leinster Cross Country in Avondale: The First Noel". The Munster Express. 24 October 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
  10. ^ Bray, Allison (25 October 2008). "Record 12,000 take to streets in long-running city marathon". Irish Independent. Independent News and Media. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
  11. ^ "Family of founder Noel Carroll running Dublin Marathon to commemorate father's 10 year anniversary". Waterford Today. 8 October 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
  12. ^ "'Local' rugby star's Ireland call-up". The Drogheda Independent. 22 January 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
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