Patrick Andrew "Pat" Clohessy AM (born 16 May 1933) is an Australian runner and distance running coach.

Middle Distance Career

Clohessy grew up in

Muswellbrook, New South Wales Muswellbrook ( ) is a town in the Upper Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle. Geologically, Muswellbrook is situated in the northern parts of the Sydney bas ...

and

Tamworth, New South Wales Tamworth is a city and administrative centre of the north-eastern region of New South Wales, Australia. Situated on the Peel River (New South Wales), Peel River within the local government area of the Tamworth Regional Council, it is the largest ...

due to his father Patrick being the postmaster with

Postmaster-General's Department The Postmaster-General's Department (PMG) was a department of the Australian federal government, established at Federation in 1901, whose responsibilities included the provision of postal and telegraphic services throughout Australia. It was ...

in these rural towns. He took up running when he joined the Muswellbrook Athletics Club in 1953. He had early success in winning the 1954 New South Wales Country Championships 880 yards and one mile events in record time. He then moved to Sydney to run for Randwick Botany Athletics Club. Clohessy then moved to the United States to study and lecture at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

. He encouraged Australian middle distance runner Allan Lawrence to study at the

. Lawrence went on to win the 5000m at 1960

NCAA Championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

. Notable performances by Clohessy as an athlete included: * Won the 3 Miles

whilst at the

in 1961 (

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 13:47.7) and 1962 (

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

in 13:51.6 ) * Won the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

3 miles in 1963. * 7th in the 3 Miles at the

1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Perth, Western Australia, from 22 November to 1 December 1962. Athletic events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in the suburb of Floreat and swimming events at Beatty Park in North ...

* 3rd World Games in Helsinki in 1963. Australian Institute of Sport Coaches - Pat Clohessy

Coaching career

After returning to Australia from the United States, Clohessy became a teacher and athletics coach at

Xavier College Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Classes started in 1878. The ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. It was at Xavier College that Clohessy started to coach

Robert de Castella Francois Robert de Castella (born 27 February 1957) is an Australian former world champion marathon runner. De Castella is widely known as "Deek" or "Deeks" to the Australian public, and "Tree" to his competitors due to his thick legs and inner ...

, who would go on to win the marathon at the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the ...

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. This was the second Commonwealth Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largely African, Asian and Caribbe ...

and the

1983 World Championships in Athletics The 1st World Championships in Athletics (; ) were run under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations and were held at the Olympic Stadium (Helsinki), Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland between 7 and 14 August 1983 ...

. In 1983, after 16 years at Xavier College, he was appointed distance running coach at the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

(AIS). It was a position he held until 1994 when he took up an

Athletics Australia Australian Athletics is the national sporting organisation (NSO) recognised by Australian Sports Commission for the sport of athletics in Australia. Founded in 1897, the organisation is responsible for administering a sport with over 16,000 reg ...

coaching position in

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. In 1998, he took up a position as athletics coach at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

. Clohessy was an athletics coach on the

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

and 1984 Australian Olympic teams and

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

and 1987 World Championships teams. Notable Australian and AIS athletes coached by Clohessy include:

Krishna Stanton Krishna Lee Stanton (née Wood; born 18 May 1966) is an Australian distance runner. She finished fourth in the 3000 metres at the 1987 IAAF World Indoor Championships and went on to win the silver medal in the marathon at the 2002 Commonwealth Ga ...

Simon Doyle Simon Patrick Doyle (born 1966-11-09 in Queensland) is a former Australian 1500 m runner who came fourth in the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland and twelfth in the World Championships' final in Tokyo. In 1990, Doyle won three Grand Prix meeti ...

Shaun Creighton Shaun William Creighton (born 14 May 1967 in Sydney) is an Australian long-distance runner. He holds the Australian record in the 3000m steeplechase and represented Australia at four Commonwealth Games and two Olympics. He continues to compete i ...

, Susan Hobson, Pat Scammell, Matt Favier, Pat Carroll, Andrew Lloyd and

Brittany McGowan Brittany McGowan (born 24 April 1991) is an Australian middle-distance runner. She competed in the women's 800 metres at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. References External links * Brittany McGowanat Athletics Australia Au ...

. In 1994, Susan Hobson edited the book - Pat Clohessy : athlete, coach, mentor published by the Australian Sports Commission.

Recognition

* 1984 - Member of the inaugural

Australian Sports Commission The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is the Australian Government commission responsible for supporting and investing in sport in Australia. The Commission incorporates the Australian Institute of Sport. From 2018 to 2022, it was known as S ...

Board * 1988 - Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his service to sport as a track and field coach. * 1997 - Life Membership of

* 1997 -

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Don Bradman, Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and ...

General Member * 2000 -

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

* 2014 - Life Governor of

References

External links

*
Patrick 'Pat' Clohessy
at Australian Athletics Historical Results {{DEFAULTSORT:Clohessy, Pat 1933 births Living people Australian athletics coaches Australian Institute of Sport coaches Olympic coaches for Australia Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Australian male middle-distance runners Houston Cougars men's track and field athletes Sportsmen from New South Wales Sportspeople from Muswellbrook Athletes from New South Wales NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners 20th-century Australian sportsmen