Australian distance-running coach Pat Clohessy dies aged 93

Australian Athletics confirmed that Patrick Andrew ‘Pat’ Clohessy died on 28 September 2026 at the age of 93. The governing body's obituary described him as an influential athlete, teacher and distance-running coach whose work extended across school, institute and national-team programmes.

Clohessy represented Australia in the mile and three miles at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, after winning NCAA three-mile titles for the University of Houston in 1961 and 1962. As a coach, he guided Rob de Castella through achievements that included the 1983 world marathon title and served on Australia's distance-running staff at the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games.

World Athletics and the Sport Australia Hall of Fame independently recorded the same death date and career outline. Clohessy worked as an Australian Institute of Sport distance coach from 1982 to 1994 and was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1988 for service to sport; this report records the confirmed death and career context without reproducing an image whose reuse rights were not established.