Tricky business, recreating famous sports people in bronze.
Sculptors’ work in not always appreciated. Sometimes, like with Cristiano Ronaldo’s likeness on Wednesday, it is ridiculed.
Perfect. pic.twitter.com/T2eafNQtm9
— Nooruddean (@BeardedGenius) March 29, 2017
How does it match up to other sporting efforts?
Sonia O’Sullivan’s rendering in bronze in her home town of Cork garnered quite a reaction when it was unveiled in 2015.
And here it is: the bronze statue of Sonia O'Sullivan in her hometown pic.twitter.com/DICwkjCOJ7
— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) September 20, 2015
Initial responses to the bronze sculpture were mixed…
I look more like Sonia O'Sullivan than that statue in Cork.
— Donna (@DonnaIRL) September 20, 2015
https://twitter.com/RunNova/status/645941414476558336
Having seen the Sonia O'Sullivan statue I now understand why you have to dead in Dublin before you get one #VeryUnFlattering @Liveline_RTE
— Niall O'Loughlin Artist (@nialloloughlin) September 21, 2015
…But the O’Sullivan statue, and Ronaldo, follows in a long line of sporting sculptures that divide public opinion. Some, like Nickey Rackard in Wexford Town, Michael Jordan in Chicago and baseball legend Ty Cobb in Detroit receive universal approval.
Statue of Nicky Rackard in #Wexford town #gaa #nostalgia pic.twitter.com/R8zP3tR4hR
— GAA Nostalgia (@gaanostalgia) August 23, 2014
While others prove far less popular – such as the fishing Jack Charlton in Cork Airport, the terrifying ‘likeness’ of Usain Bolt in Kingston and statuesque Diego Maradona in Buenos Aires.
The best we can hope for is, that when they made some of those, they broke the mould.
