Kevin O'Flanagan

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Kevin O'Flanagan (June 10, 1919May 26, 2006) was an Irish sportsman and physician.

Born in Dublin, he studied medicine at University College Dublin but was also a keen amateur association football and rugby union player. He went on to represent the Republic of Ireland and Ireland teams in each sport respectively; only one of two Irishmen (along with his brother, Michael O'Flanagan) to have been a double international.

He was also a keen sprinter and long jumper and would have represented Ireland at the 1940 and 1944 Olympic Games, had they not been cancelled.

After the Second World War O'Flanagan moved to London to continue practicing medicine and for two years he played football as an amateur for Arsenal. He quit football in 1947 to concentrate fully on medicine (specialising in sports injuries), and was a medical officer for Great Britain at the 1948 Olympic Games. He then moved back to his native Ireland and was the chief medical officer for the Irish Olympic team from 1960 till 1976. That same year, he became a member of the International Olympic Committee, remaining in the post until his retirement in 1995; thereafter he was an honorary member.

He died in a Dublin hospital in 2006, at the age of 86, after being admitted for heart problems.


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