Ray Flynn (athlete)
Raymond P. Flynn (born 22 January 1957) is a retired middle distance runner and current sports agent. A native of Longford, Ireland, Flynn won the 1500 meters at the Great Britain Championships against other high school runners. He earned an athletic scholarship to East Tennessee State University where he ran cross country and track. He was a member of the 1975 team that won the USA Track & Field Cross Country Championship, and was an NCAA All-American in both track and cross country, finishing only 0.08 seconds behind Steve Scott in the 1,500 meter final at the 1978 NCAA Track & Field Championships.[1] He still holds the ETSU records for the 1500 meters and mile, both indoor and outdoor.[2]
Flynn has run 89 sub-four minute miles, with his best time (and current Irish mile record) of 3:49.77 on July 7, 1982 in Oslo at the Bislett Games Dream Mile.[3] He also holds the current Irish 1500 meter record of 3:33.5, set in the same Oslo race. Along with Irish runners Marcus O'Sullivan, Eamonn Coghlan, and Frank O'Mara, he helped set the still standing world record of 15:49.08 in the 4 x mile relay, as a charity fund-raiser in Dublin, Ireland in 1985.[4] Flynn represented Ireland in the 1980 and 1984 Summer Olympic Games, where he was a finalist in the 5000 meters.
Flynn resides with his wife and children in Northeast Tennessee, where he is the President/CEO of Flynn Sports Management, an athletics management company.[5] Flynn is the current meet director for the Millrose Games in New York City, the oldest indoor meet in North America.