Richard strikes gold again

KILLANENA athlete Richard McArthur has added another five gold medals to his collection, following the Munster Masters Indoor Athletics Championships held in Nenagh recently.
The athletics enthusiast scooped the gold in the 60m sprint, the long jump, the high jump, the 200m run and the 56lb weight without follow at the masters over 45 indoor event just before Christmas.
Richard said the medals will build on the success he has been having in these events since he first took up the sport when he was 18. He competes with St Cronan’s Athletics Club in Ennis since the club in Killanena wound down but he trains for the most part at home in Killanena.
Taking gold at these events is nothing new to Richard and tops his four gold medals that he secured at the same event last year. However, he still believes it is all to play for in the All-Ireland Masters Indoor championships, which take place in Nenagh on January 23.
Speaking about his love of athletics, Richard said, “It keeps you fit and it’s my main sport. It’s a bit of a bug really. I have different people in the sport that I’d look up as well. I’d be training five days a week from November to March for the indoor championship. I was in Tullamore last August as well for the outdoor athletics championships.”
Richard’s primary event is the 200m run but in addition to his mainstays, the Killanena athlete decided to give another event a try.
“My main event is the 200m. It comes naturally so that’d be my favourite one. I did the weight this year. It was an event to be done and I said I’d do it and I surprised myself,” he added.
Richard is now training hard for the All-Ireland event later this month and is hoping to better the three gold medals he took there last year.
“You never really know at the All-Ireland, you’d have a few good new fellas. I feel confident about it but you never know and you have to be going well to win,” he said.
Asked what he will do with his five gold medals, he said they will probably be put away with all the others he has won over the years. “I can’t keep track of my medals. I win a lot of them. I’d say the family are sick of me bringing home medals,” he concluded.