The race walker who broke his back just days before the 2004 Athens Olympics

How Jamie Costin’s salvaged his Olympic dreams to compete in Beijing four years later

Listen | 12:03
Ireland's Jamie Costin passes the Birds Nest during the men's 50k walk at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Photograph: Lorraine O'Sullivan/©INPHO

In the run-up to the Paris Olympics, Irish Times sports journalists have looked back at the Irish Olympic stories you didn’t know. This podcast series brings you a selection of those pieces, as read by their authors.

In episode three, Malachy Clerkin tells the story of race walker Jamie Costin, who at 27 was in the shape of his life and just days away from competing in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Then his car got hit by a truck driving on the wrong side of the road in rural Greece. Costin suffered two broken vertebrae and had to wear a body cast for five months but still made it back to compete in Beijing four years later.

Listen to Episode 3 here or on your podcast app. You can read all the stories in the series here.