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SEAN EGAN
The 1980 Olympic symbol for the games in Moscow
SEAN EGAN
Growing up in Ireland during the early 1970s, Sean Egan
dreamed of being a rock star. He joined the Army instead.
However, the brawny redhead would eventually perform
in front of large crowds worldwide, competing as an elite
hammer thrower.
John ('Sean') Egan was born on 18 October 1956 in Dublin
to James Egan and Claire (nee Burke). His father, a native
of County Kilkenny, served in the Irish Army for 21 years 271
days before retiring in 1973 as a Company Quartermaster-
Sergeant. Sean attended Curragh Boys National School, and
also Templetuohy National School when CQMS Egan was
stationed in Cyprus with the United Nations.
After returning to the Curragh for secondary school, Egan
formed a three-piece band with classmates Jim Sullivan
and Niall Powers (a drummer who later went on to play
By Christopher Warner
Photos provided by Christopher Warner
with Bob Geldof). With Egan on bass and Sullivan on guitar,
the trio called themselves «Broken Cobweb» and hoped to
follow in the footsteps of other burgeoning Irish acts at the
time like Rory Gallagher and Thin Lizzy. But one afternoon in
McDermott Quarters, Egan's chance encounter with an odd-
looking stranger would change everything.
«This fella used to walk past every so often with a Mohican-
style haircut,» Egan recently told An Cosantoir. «I was curious
who he was, so I followed him one day into the gymnasium
and saw that he was dragging these things around. I didn't
know it at the time, but they were hammers.» The athlete
turned out to be Terry Gent, the 1972 national champion, who
Sean is photographed here practicing his technique in the hammer
throw event
A picture of Sean Egan in a newspaper, at a competition separate to
the Olympics