Olympian Frank O’Mara: ‘Running has nothing to do with my life anymore. My life is about fighting this Parkinson’s disease’

In 2010, former Olympian Frank O’Mara went to a doctor with a running injury that turned out to be the first signs of Parkinson’s. Since then, Deep Brain Stimulation surgery, coupled with the lessons he learned from sport, have helped him to keep pushing forward

Triple Olympian Frank O’Mara on his struggle with Parkinson’s disease

Emily Hourican

Frank O’Mara is a three-times Olympian, competing for Ireland at Los Angeles, Seoul and Barcelona. Born and brought up in Limerick, he was twice World Indoor Champion in the 3000m, and in 1983 while at the university of Arkansas, became the third Irishman ever to win the NCAA 1500m. In 1987 he broke the Irish record for 5000m, setting a new record that stood for 11 years. He has also had a successful career post-athletics in the telecoms industry.

But you won’t learn much about these remarkable successes from his new book, Bend, Don’t Break. “I haven’t put in my stories about victories,” he tells me, from Little Rock, Arkansas, where he lives with his wife and three sons; “more about how I survived the bad times. Because strangely, it was the bad days that helped me most with the current bad days.”