In honour of his gold medal success in the 1,500 metres at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and the attendant symmetry with the imminent departure of the Irish athletes for the 2000 Sydney Games, Ronnie Delany was yesterday immortalised on canvas.

The full-length oil portrait by Dublin artist James Hanley was formally unveiled at the National Gallery. The painting will hang in the Dargan wing and will be on view to the public from today. It is the second in a series of prominent Irish people to be commissioned by the Gallery. The portrait was sponsored by Irish Life and Permanent, who donated an additional £250,000 to the Millennium wing.