HAVING played football against future Ireland internationals at the Kennedy Cup, Chris O’Donnell knows the value of a good team.
And that is why the 400m runner reckons it is a no-brainer for him to prioritise a relay rather than an individual event.
The Sligo man was disappointed not to be picked for the World Relay Championships in May.
But he bounced back earlier this month to help the mixed team take gold at the European Championships.
This Saturday sees him bid to take a sixth national title in the one-lap event at Dublin’s Morton Stadium as he chases the individual Olympic qualifying time.
But he is up front about what the No 1 target is with the Paris Games around the corner.
O’Donnell said: “I get asked the question a lot, ‘Would you rather be a finalist or a relay medallist?’
“It’s a no-brainer, it would be the medal all day long.
“I tend to prioritise the relay on the basis of that.
“It’s about a medal all day.
“That’s something I’m hopefully going to show the grandchildren and something to look back on and put on the CV.
“I look at the Dutch teams and the Belgian athletes.
“They’re very similar in that they don’t see any difference between a relay or an individual medal.
“I love being part of a team.
“I came from a football background and I liked the team aspect of it as well.
“I like giving my all for the relay.”
Of course, it is not the same for everyone, particularly those with realistic aspirations of individual medals, namely Rhasidat Adeleke.
She may opt to forego the relay as a result but it is something which O’Donnell is at peace with.
He said: “That’s a decision to be made by herself and her coaches and whatever they think is best.
“If she doesn’t run, we’ve made finals before without her.
“We’ve got good athletes to step up.
“We would like her to run but she’s going to make whatever decision is best for her.
“There won’t be any grudges held over that but all we can do between now and then is try and improve ourselves.”
Regardless of whether she is there, O’Donnell — from the same Sligo village of Grange as swimmer Mona McSharry — will adopt the same role that he normally does.
He said: “I like to think I’m a leader of the team and I like to think the other athletes can rely on me to use my experience because I’ve been there all the way through.
“This journey started at the world relays in 2021.
“We went there and said, ‘Let’s just see what we can do, can we qualify for the Tokyo Olympics?’
“We had success there and we had success in Tokyo.
“We made the final.
We made the 2022 final in Oregon and in 2023 we were sixth in Budapest.
Every year I’ve kind of just followed this path and followed this journey.”
TWO ROADS DIVERGED
But there was a time when he was on a different path.
O’Donnell represented the Sligo/Leitrim Youth Schoolboys League at the 2012 Kennedy Cup, before an effort to improve his football skills led to him taking a detour.
He said: “Sometimes I take out that Kennedy Cup programme when I’m home.
“It’s in a drawer somewhere and I see some of the names.
“Off the top of my head, I’m forgetting a few, but I know plenty of them have gone to play for Ireland and a few decent clubs over in England.
“I remember Jayson Molumby was one of them.
“But every year when someone new crops up into the Irish squad, I open the programme and I say, ‘Oh wait, he was actually there’.
“You didn’t think at the time but there was a lot of talent there and that was good fun.
“That was how I ended up running. I was on the wing and I was fast.
“They wanted me to get faster so they sent me to the track to train.
“I was coaxed into a few competitions from there.
“I didn’t have the intention to do that but then it got better.
“It got to the stage where I was on the Irish schools team and I couldn’t really ignore that.”