Treacy inducted to Hall of Fame

Double World Cross Country Champion and Olympic Marathon Silver Medallist John Treacy will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the annual National Athletics Awards.The awards will take place at a Gala Dinner in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Santry on Saturday, 14 November.It is the 25th anniversary of his Marathon silver medal in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics' Marathon and the 30th anniversary of Treacy retaining his World Cross Country title in 1979.John Treacy's Los Angeles performance is one of the iconic achievements in Irish sporting history and it speaks volumes of his character that it came less than a year after he experienced the low of tailing off virtually last in his 10,000m heat at the World Championships in Helsinki.The Waterford man won the first of his two successive World Cross Country Championships in the mud and snow at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow in 1978. In 1979, on that never to be forgotten day in Irish sport, Treacy retained his World Cross Country title in front of 25,000 spectators at Limerick Racecourse.Treacy was never less than a fearless competitor in a 20-year international career that began as a 16-year-old when he won bronze in the Junior race at the World Cross Country Championships in Monza. He ended with another victory when he ran 2:14.40 to win the 1993 Dublin Marathon.'I am very surprised and greatly honoured to have been chosen to receive the Hall of Fame Award. I join a small but legendary group of athletes in Ronnie Delany and Eamonn Coghlan in receiving this award,' Treacy saidThe winners of 11 of the 12 categories for the 2008 National Athletics Awards will also be announced on the night. The award winners are selected by a panel of highly-respected athletics experts with a wide knowledge and understanding of all disciplines of the sport. The Performance of the Year Award will be decided by a panel of Ireland's top athletics journalists. Each of the award winners will receive a Tipperary Crystal trophy. The award categories are Track Athlete of the Year, Field Athlete of the Year, Cross Country/Road Athlete of the Year, Race Walker of the Year, Club of the Year, Outstanding Official, Coach of the Year, Junior Athlete of the Year, Master Athlete of the Year, Outstanding Performance of the Year, Lifetime Achievement and the Hall of Fame Award.