Jeremy Lyons, a resident of Ballynonty in Tipperary, has been honored with the prestigious European Athletics Excellence in Coaching Award. This recognition was bestowed upon him at the National Athletics Awards for his exceptional contributions to the field of athletic coaching. With a lifelong involvement in athletics, starting from his early days as a competitive athlete, Lyons has dedicated his time to developing and mentoring Olympic and World Championship finalists.
Lyons’s passion for athletics was sparked by his late father, Jerry Lyons, who was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame by Tipperary Athletics in 2018. His father’s incredible legacy as both a coach and administrator laid the foundation for Jeremy’s successful career in the sport.
After his own fruitful journey as a 400 meters hurdles club athlete, Jeremy Lyons transitioned to coaching sprints and hurdles in 2009. Over the next five years, he achieved remarkable results, guiding athletes to European Under 23 and senior levels. Notable athletes such as Craig Lynch, Brandon Arrey, and Gerard O’Donnell flourished under his guidance, becoming consistent Irish senior internationals. Lyons’s wider training group also earned numerous national titles and medals, a testament to his coaching prowess.
Lyons’s talent lies not only in nurturing young athletes but also in facilitating their transition to senior international athletics. In 2016, he welcomed Sophie Becker into his training group. Through his guidance, Becker made tremendous progress, ascending through the ranks of European athletics, from club-level to Under 23 and senior competitions. Ultimately, her hard work paid off with a qualification for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Another athlete who followed a similar trajectory under Lyons’s coaching was Cillin Greene. With dedicated mentorship, Greene, along with Becker, achieved a historic milestone as part of the Irish Mixed Relay team, making it to the final in Tokyo—an unprecedented achievement for an Irish relay team.
In 2022, Jack Raftery joined Becker at the World Championships in Oregon, taking the same path as the previous rising stars coached by Lyons. The success of the mixed 4 x 400 meters relay team, which reached the final, demonstrated the impact of Lyons’s coaching methods.
This year’s World Championships in Budapest showcased Lyons’s coaching prowess yet again. Sophie Becker, Sharlene Mawdsley, and their fellow relay team members delivered outstanding performances that culminated in securing a sixth-place finish in the World 4 x 400 meters Mixed Relay. Mawdsley, a talented athlete hailing from Newport, Tipperary, made a remarkable contribution to the team’s success.
Jeremy Lyons’s coaching philosophy emphasizes collaboration, as demonstrated by his establishment of the Dublin Sprint group in 2019. Through this initiative, he invited coaches Aideen Sinnott and Gerard O’Donnell to join him in providing an elite coaching and training environment. Additionally, Lyons, alongside his wife Sinéad, founded a grassroots juvenile athletics club in Clongriffin in the same year. This endeavor aimed to offer children in Dublin 13 the chance to experience and enjoy athletics, fostering their potential to pursue their dreams of Olympic glory.
Jeremy Lyons’s exceptional coaching abilities and dedication to the sport of athletics have made an indelible mark both at home in Tipperary and on the international stage. Through his mentorship, countless athletes have thrived, achieving remarkable goals and earning Ireland’s recognition on the global athletic map.
