UQ Athletics Club Head Coach Pat Clohessy has plenty of reasons to celebrate this year.
Mr Clohessy is about to mark a decade in the top job and was recently recognised by Athletics Australia for his outstanding contributions spanning more than 30 years.
“It was a very happy moment for me, but although I am proud of my work I also think it could have gone to many others who have also contributed a great deal,” he said.
Beginning his career in Victoria in school athletics, Mr Clohessy is primarily a distance running coach and has since worked across the country at clubs and institutes up to the Olympic level.
Athletes he has mentored include marathon champion Rob De Castella, Commonwealth Games medallist and Australian one-mile record holder Krishna Stanton and Australian distance record holder Simon Doyle.
Prior to joining the University of Queensland, Mr Clohessy was distance coach at the Australian Institute of Sport.
Since moving to Brisbane in 1998, he has led the UQ athletics team to nine consecutive victories at the annual University Games.
Mr Clohessy is full of praise for his colleagues at UQ and says he wouldn’t be where he is without them, especially assistant coaches Eric Brown and Tom Brandt.
“You can’t achieve the results that I have without great support,” he said.
“I’ve been aided at the UQ Athletics Club by such excellent facilities, great support coaches and a steady stream of talent every single year.”
As well as his Athletics Australia Merit award, Mr Clohessy is a life member of Melbourne’s Glenhuntly Athletics Club and the ACT Cross country club, a member of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, and a recipient of the Order of Australia.
He is happily married to wife Moira who is a music teacher and has a daughter Maria who is a UQ Business/ Economics graduate.
Media: Stephen Danckert at UQ SPORT (07 3346 7519, stephend@uqsport.uq.edu.au)
