On January 14th 2024 in Athlone, 15-year-old Conor Penney of Craughwell AC hit the 2.00m mark in the high jump, eclipsing Jerry Keary’s long standing 1.98m leap from 2016.
Run Republic spoke to Conor's sprints and hurdles coach Ronnie Warde to talk about the resilience that this young man showed in the months that preceded this monumental jump in Athlone.
'The backstory with Conor is that he suffered a very serious knee injury back in April, and so he was out all of last year. So, that was more or less his return to competition from injury.
'I am his physio as well, so I was the one who rehabbed it with him.
'He used to cycle 8-10 miles every day when his knee was really sore. To see him do that, it just shows his hard work, determination, and grit.'
We asked Ronnie what the emotions were like as he watched Conor soared through the air to claim the new indoor club record, having seen an incredible clip of him celebrating with Penney in the aftermath; 'The only thing I didn't do was jump out the window like Father Ted!
'When you see myself and his father celebrating, what we were really celebrating was "Conor Penney is back!"
'That's what it really meant, there was a lot of emotion there!'
This remarkable achievement shows what sheer commitment to recovery and self belief can do. At just 15 years of age, Conor Penney returned to competition having missed months of training through injury and produced a record setting jump at 2.00m even.
If you are struggling with a serious injury, Conor's story and fairytale return goes to show that you too can recover and get back to where you want to be.