It’s probably the journalist geek in me but one of my favourite social media trends of late is the rise of the viral behind-the-scenes commentary of sports events. It reached peak performance during the All-Ireland football final with Martin Carney and Stephen Grealis co-commentating on Midwest Radio. Caught up in the sheer excitement of it all, their excited shrieks of, “the famine is over, the famine is over, the curse be damned”, travelled far beyond the station’s usual geographical reach. What they lacked in balanced reporting, they certainly made up for in entertainment value.

Not to take away from Mark English’s exceptional 800m gold medal win at the European Athletic Championships in Birmingham, but the event was elevated for us here at home with Greg Allen’s superb commentary on RTÉ. With each step of the run, and each word from Allen’s mouth, we got more and more behind Mark. As he ran across the line, we all mimicked Greg’s actions as he jumped from his seat in celebration, proclaiming, “Mark English is the champion, and he did it with style”. While Mark won his place in Irish athletics history, Greg Allen now sits beside legendary commentators like Jimmy Magee and Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh.

What a week it was for Irish sport. In Birmingham, as well as Mark English’s iconic win in the 800m, Kate O’Connor put us on the heptathlon map with her memorable gold medal moment. Rhasidat Adeleke brought home the silver in the 200m, while Andrew Coscoran achieved a surprise bronze in the 1500m. And if that wasn’t exciting enough, at the European Aquatics Championships in Paris five Irish medals were secured in swimming – a pair of golds for Dubliner Ellen Walshe while Mona McSharry headed home to Sligo with a silver and two bronze medals.

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Many of these athletes have the 2028 Olympic Games firmly in their sights with last week’s event building momentum and support – but even more than that, they inspired us. Their interviews made us acutely aware that these moments of success are only a glimpse of the entire picture. Behind the scenes, there are years of dedication – early morning training, relentless discipline and strategic thinking. There are hours upon hours of repetition to perfect their skill, and behind every win, there are also moments of bitter disappointment and heartache. Still, they keep going.

What a week it was for Irish sport. In Birmingham, as well as Mark English’s iconic win in the 800m, Kate O’Connor put us on the heptathlon map with her memorable gold medal moment. Rhasidat Adeleke brought home the silver in the 200m, while Andrew Coscoran achieved a surprise bronze in the 1500m

That’s when we see the years of hard work reach a crescendo, we witness the joy of success, the first-place podiums and the tears singing Amhrán na bhFiann. These are the moments that inspire the next generation of young people to set the alarm early, to pull on their running shoes and put one foot in front of the other.

There were complaints that not all of Kate O’Connor’s events were given adequate airtime, but credit does need to be given to the national broadcaster for the level of coverage.

It’s not enough to just have the Olympics every four years, we want to go on this journey with them. That journey reached some climax for Mark English last week and in the words of Greg Allen, “he was always destined to be a champion, all the way through from that sensational junior career…he’ll climb the top of the podium in a major championship for the first time.”

What a joy to watch.