This is the story of how Irish sport and politics collided on the biggest stage and an Olympic dream that lives on to this day.
On the 7th of September 1972 an Irishman took the lead in the Olympic cycling road race in Munich. Only he wasn’t supposed to be there. This was the earthquake moment in Irish cycling when a bitter civil war came to the surface on sport’s biggest stage.
In 1972 Irish cycling was a snapshot of the country at the time. The sport was divided and there was open hostility between the rival factions running cycling on the island. On one side: The two internationally-recognised bodies north and south of the border. And on the other side: The National Cycling Association (NCA), a group led by prominent republicans, who believed in a 32-county organisation alone.
Since 1947 the NCA had been barred from international competition and the group had protested at the 1955 World Championships and the 1956 –Olympics. By 1972 they were prepared to take action again – with a secret plan to protest at the Olympic Games in Munich.
What happened next made headlines around the world and changed the course of Irish cycling forever. Protests, pile-ups, arrests and a political storm — all played out against the bloody backdrop of the Troubles at home and a tragic siege at the Games.
This is the story of how Irish sport and politics collided in Munich in 1972 and an Olympic dream that lives on to this day.
Contributors include:
Shay O’Hanlon, John Mangan, Pat Healy, Mary Peters, Kieron McQuaid, Hennie Kuiper, Neil Teggart and Matthew Teggart
Narrated by David Coughlan
Produced by David Coughlan & Donal O’Herlihy