Trinity Olympians exhibition opens

Posted on: 18 April 2024

The new exhibition celebrating Trinity students, staff and alumni who have taken part in the Olympic and Paralympic Games will run in the Exam Hall on April 18-19 from 10-4pm.

Trinity College Dublin lit up in the Olympic colours at night

Trinity's front façade was lit in the Olympic colours to mark 100 days until the opening of the Games

Items on display include the 2012 London Olympic and 2020 Tokyo Paralympic torches, as well as medals, racing bibs and profiles of over sixty athletes, doctors and supporters who have participated in the Games since the first modern Olympics in Paris in 1924. Irish silver medalists Annalise Murphy (sailing, 2016), Aifric Keogh (rowing, 2020) and David Wilkins (sailing, 1980) are among those featured.

Maeve Kyle, Ireland's first female Olympian, is included, as is Oliver St. John Gogarty who won bronze in mixed literature in 1924 for his poem, Ode to the Tailteann Games.

Three people stand facing the camera with a countdown clock marking 100 days until the Olympic and Paralympic Games. one of the people is holding an Olympic torchRugby 7s player and Trinity graduate, Jack Kelly, with Professor Richie Porter, Dean of Students and Olympic silver medalist and Trinity graduate Annalise Murphy with the countdown clock marking 100 days until the opening of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games

Some lesser-known names have also brought to light in the exhibition, including James Parke who has been called Ireland’s ever greatest sportsman. An international Irish rugby player during his time as a student at Trinity, Parke won a silver medal in the Men’s Doubles in the 1908 Olympic Games and went on to play in two singles semi-finals and four doubles finals at Wimbledon between 1910 and 1920.

The exhibition is free of charge and open to the public.