Scottish broadcasting doyen Dougie Donnelly admitted a glittering gold medal for an Irvine athlete was one of the highlights of the 2000 Olympic Games which was the launchpad for future major British glory.
And the former Radio Clyde morning show DJ and BBC Sportscene presenter stuck his neck out after a tip-off and requested live coverage of Steph Cook’s modern pentathlon challenge in Sydney, ahead of a boxing gold medal bid from Audley Harrison, insisting he thought she would win.
Speaking at the launch of his new autobiography: My Life In Sport Recorded Highlights, on the opening evening of the Tidelines Book Festival In Irvine’s Harbour Arts Centre, Dougie recalled: “I had a huge amount of help from Dominic Mahony, who had won bronze for GB in the 1988 Games and was team manager in Sydney and he was my guide and advisor through a sport which demands both athletic and technical excellence.
“Dominic had assured me that GB woman Stephanie Cook and Kate Allenby were both medal prospects.
“Going into the final 4km run, she was just 49 seconds behind and Dominic insisted if she was in that position she would win owing to her strength in that event.”
The producer was going with Audley Harrison live but Dougie told him Dominic said Steph was gone to win and there had to be a live broadcast from there. He agreed and the Irvine native was victorious, with Allenby third.
As it transpired, Harrison also won gold and that day and that event was shown later.
He also recalled how he met and interviewed 42nd US President Bill Clinton through an events company run by former Olympic and Commonwealth Games athlete and now Ayrshire MSP Brian Whittle and rugby ace Derek Stark.
He was told no subject was off limits by Clinton and had him briefly grimacing when he said it would be embarrassing, only to ask: “Just how bad was that American performance at the Ryder Cup?”
Sax player Clinton then went off script with the entourage and asked to meet his fellow saxophonists who played at the evening in his honour.
Another highlight was a meeting with former Beatle Paul McCartney who gave him a 40-minute interview minutes before a Glasgow Apollo gig, while his wife Linda told him they listened to his mid-morning show on the way to their home in the Mull of Kintyre. And he met Elton John, who chose the discs for one of his shows on Radio Clyde.
He also saluted Sir Alex Ferguson “the greatest football manager of all time” although the plain-speaking former Aberdeen and Manchester United boss told him to get rid of his beard.
A trip to Seville to see Celtic in the UEFA Cup final was one of his highlights along with Rangers’ UEFA Cup final appearance and Scotland’s World Cup opener with Brazil in 1998.
Another story involved Rangers and England star Gazza (Paul Gascoigne) organising a night where you drank different colours of drinks.
He rates Scotland’s rugby Grand Slam triumphs of 1984 and 1990 as huge highlights.
The book has a foreword from Big Yin Billy Connolly, who knew him through gigs at Strathclyde University, where he booked bands.
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