The death occurred last week of Maeve Kyle, a pioneering figure in Irish athletics and a former hockey international, at the age of 96. A three-time Olympian, and the first Irish woman to compete in track and field at the Olympics, Kyle devoted much of her life to sport. Born Maeve Shankey in Kilkenny, she won, 58 caps for Ireland’s hockey team before shifting her focus to athletics after meeting her future husband, athletics coach Sean Kyle, in 1953. Kyle became the first woman to represent Ireland in track and field at an Olympic Games when she contested the 100m and 200m at Melbourne 1956 as a 28-year-old in a career that became even more remarkable for its longevity. The honour of representing her country came at a financial cost, with the Ballymena-based athlete required to stump up £200 to make the trip Down Under. Kyle went on to compete at Rome 1960 and Tokyo 1964, reaching the semi-finals in both the 400m and 800m in her final Games as a competitor. Two years later, Kyle claimed a bronze medal in the 400m at the European Indoors in Dortmund in what was then West Germany. Kyle recalled in later years that her feats prompted a letter-writer to the Irish Times saying: ‘‘I was a disgrace to motherhood and the Irish nation. Imagine a woman leaving her husband and daughter to go and run.’’
