Ireland
2012
Ireland's only athletics medal from the London Games was a fourth place. It took 1,545 days, a court in Lausanne and a ceremony in Cork to become bronze.
Ireland finished the London 2012 Olympics with five medals and none of them in athletics. Four years later it had six, and the new one was Rob Heffernan's bronze in the 50 kilometre walk.
This is the Irish 2012 season told through that race: the record he set finishing fourth, the ruling that moved him up, the ceremony in Cork, and the ASICS Team Ireland kit the squad wore on The Mall.
Part of our Season Series — one year at a time. The full national story is in The History of Athletics in Ireland. Jump to the 2012 kit or browse the collection.
- Games
- London Olympics, athletics 3–12 August 2012
- Athletics medals on the day
- Zero — Ireland's best track and field result was fourth
- Athletics medals today
- One bronze — Rob Heffernan, 50 km walk
- The mark
- 3:37:54 — Irish record, still standing in 2026
- The wait
- 1,545 days from the race to the medal presentation
- The ruling
- CAS, 24 March 2016 — the winner disqualified
- Elsewhere in 2012
- Fionnuala Britton retains the European cross-country title in Budapest
- Kit
- ASICS — Team Ireland Olympic issue via the Olympic Council of Ireland
Fourth on The Mall
The men's 50 kilometre walk at the London Olympics started and finished on The Mall on 11 August 2012. Rob Heffernan, a Cork walker who had already finished ninth in the 20 kilometre race a week earlier, walked 3:37:54 and came fourth. It was an Irish record. Fourth place at an Olympic Games is the worst result in sport, and that is where the story sat for the next three and a half years.
Heffernan was 34 and at his fourth Olympics. The 3:37:54 he walked that afternoon is still the Irish record in August 2026, and it is now a record that cannot be beaten: the 50 kilometre walk has since been removed from the championship programme.
The Medal That Took 1,545 Days
In March 2016 the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld appeals against six Russian athletes. One of them was Sergey Kirdyapkin, who had won the London 50 kilometre walk. His suspension was ruled to cover the period of the Games, his result was struck, and Heffernan moved up to bronze.
Timeline data — table view
| Date | Days after the race | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Aug 2012 | 0 | The race — Fourth on The Mall in 3:37:54, an Irish record. No medal. |
| 24 Mar 2016 | 1321 | The ruling — The Court of Arbitration for Sport upholds appeals against six Russian athletes; the winner is disqualified. |
| 3 Nov 2016 | 1545 | The medal — Presented at Cork City Hall — the first Irish athlete to receive an Olympic medal on home soil. |
He was given the medal at Cork City Hall on 3 November 2016, in front of the city he walked for — the first Irish athlete to be presented with an Olympic medal on home soil. Ireland finished the London Games with five medals and ended up with six, and the one that arrived late was the only athletics medal of the lot.
The Rest of the Irish Team
The rest of the Irish athletics team in London did not get a result of that order, and the honest summary is that almost nobody made a final. Paul Hession ran 20.69 in the 200 metres, Ciarán Ó Lionáird 3:48.35 in the 1500 metres and Alistair Cragg 13:47.01 in the 5000 metres, and none of them advanced. Derval O'Rourke ran 12.91 in the 100 metres hurdles, Joanne Cuddihy 51.88 in the 400 metres, and Stephanie Reilly 9:44.77 in the 3000 metres steeplechase.
The distance events carried the team. Fionnuala Britton doubled in the 5000 and 10,000 metres. Olive Loughnane, the 2009 world champion over 20 kilometres, walked to 13th. Mark Kenneally finished the marathon in 2:21:13 and Linda Byrne and Ava Hutchinson came home within four seconds of each other in the women's race. Brendan Boyce was 29th in the 50 kilometre walk, in the same race as Heffernan; Colin Griffin was disqualified from it.
Four months later Britton went to Budapest for the European Cross Country Championships and won, having won the same title in Velenje the previous December. She was the first woman to successfully defend it. That, not the track, was the Irish result of 2012 that nobody had to wait four years for.
The ASICS Team Ireland Kit
The kit Irish athletes wore in London was ASICS. The Olympic Council of Ireland ran the supply through ASICS for those Games, working with the national federation performance directors and the athletes' commission, with a colour and design range made specifically for 2012; Sonia O'Sullivan was Ireland's Chef de Mission. That is the provenance of the Irish piece in this archive — Team Ireland Olympic issue, not federation training kit and not a supporters' range.
One garment, one cycle. The Irish rail is the shortest we hold, and there is no way to pad it honestly: a country that sent around twenty athletes to an Olympics issues kit in quantities that almost never reach the resale market. What is listed below is what has actually come out of the team channel.
Heffernan did not wait for the ruling to answer London. In August 2013 he won the 50 kilometre walk at the World Championships in Moscow in 3:37:56, more than a minute clear, in the fastest time run in the world that year by over three minutes. He had the world title in his hands three years before the Olympic medal reached him.
Team Ireland 2012
What we hold from the Irish 2012 cycle. It is one piece, and that is the honest number — a squad of around twenty athletes issues kit in quantities that almost never reach resale, which is exactly why an authentic piece from it is worth holding.
Did Ireland win an athletics medal at the London 2012 Olympics?
Yes, but not on the day. Rob Heffernan finished fourth in the 50 kilometre walk on 11 August 2012 in an Irish record 3:37:54. In March 2016 the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld appeals against six Russian athletes, the winner Sergey Kirdyapkin was disqualified, and Heffernan was upgraded to bronze. It was Ireland's only athletics medal of those Games.
When did Rob Heffernan actually receive his London 2012 medal?
On 3 November 2016, at Cork City Hall — 1,545 days after the race. He was the first Irish athlete to be presented with an Olympic medal on home soil.
Is Heffernan's 3:37:54 still the Irish record?
Yes. It has stood since 11 August 2012 and cannot now be beaten in the same arena, because the 50 kilometre walk has been dropped from the championship programme.
Who supplied Ireland's kit at the London 2012 Olympics?
ASICS. The Olympic Council of Ireland worked with ASICS on performance and team clothing for the London Games, alongside the national federation performance directors and the athletes' commission, with a colour and design range produced for 2012.
What else did Irish athletics achieve in 2012?
Fionnuala Britton won the European Cross Country Championships in Budapest that December, defending the title she had won in Velenje in 2011 and becoming the first woman to retain it.
Sources and References
- Wikipedia — Robert Heffernan — the London race, the 3:37:54, the CAS ruling of 24 March 2016 and Moscow 2013
- Cork Athletics — Heffernan presented with his London 2012 bronze — Cork City Hall, 3 November 2016, first Irish athlete to receive an Olympic medal at home
- Wikipedia — Ireland at the 2012 Summer Olympics — the full Irish athletics entry list, every mark quoted, and the six-medal tally
- Wikipedia — Fionnuala McCormack — the European cross-country titles of 2011 and 2012 and the first successful defence
- Olympic Council of Ireland — ASICS Olympic clothing — ASICS as supplier of Team Ireland performance and team clothing for London 2012
- Wikipedia — List of Irish records in athletics — the 50 kilometre walk national record, checked 4 August 2026