Fourth no more: Eamonn Coghlan wins gold at the World Championships - 40 years on

"There is one lap to go and it is becoming increasingly difficult to remain cool and objective about the outcome of this race... Coghlan and Dmitriyev, the race is between the two. Dmitriyev is holding the lead, Coghlan is waiting.

"Coghlan signals, he's going to go. He looks out, he is supremely confident. Eamonn Coghlan is going to do what he has been threatening to do all his life. He is going to win the world championship, as with total contempt he runs away from the entire field. Coghlan is the world champion. A superb, confident run by a great athlete.

"The trail of heartbreak for Eamonn Coghlan is over. Run out of the medals in Montreal and in Moscow, the Irishman has answered his critics today with a devastating run, which brings him a brilliant gold."

-Tony O'Donoghue (1936-2023), late RTÉ commentator

Eamonn Coghlan finished fourth in the 1976 Olympic 1500m final

14 August, 1983.

The final day of the inaugural World Athletics Championships in Helsinki.

For 5,000m finalist Eamonn Coghlan, a chance to atone for fourth-place finishes at successive Olympic Games.

The 30-year-old is the star of the high-profile US indoor racing circuit: 'The Chairman of the Boards' has broken the world mile record three times, won the renowned Wanamaker Mile in five of the previous seven years and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine three times.

But twice missing out on Olympic medals - in the 1500m at Montreal in 1976 when he hit the front too early, and the 5,000m in Moscow in 1980 when he overtrained and was ill in the lead-up – means some doubt his ability to deliver on the biggest stage.

"Very much so," Coghlan tells RTÉ Sport. "Growing up as a young kid in Drimnagh in Dublin, you have dreams when you get