The club gradually developed through the eighties both in the number of the athletes attracted and in reputation. Two very famous athletes who were members of Westport Athletics Club during this period were the Joyce sisters whose ancestors came from Aughagower and Tourmakeady, but were born and brought up in England. Between them they broke every Senior Irish record from the mile to the marathon, and they both competed for Ireland in the 1984 Olympic Games. In fact Regina held a world best for the 1500m by a 15- year old, until the very famous Mary Decker, an American who won several Olympic and world gold medals during her career, bettered it.
During the late eighties and early nineties the club became predominantly a juvenile club and has remained so up to the present time. Around this time the club had one of its most successful periods when a remarkably talented group of athletes represented the club over a period of three years. The pick of these were Alan McLoughlin, Brian Langan, Dermot Flynn and Paddy O’Toole. This quartet won numerous All Ireland gold medals, set a number of all Ireland records in field events and relays as well as winning medals in the prestigious British AAA’s Championships. Indeed a tribute to the quality of their performances is the fact that the long jump mark of 6m 10cm by, Alan McLoughlin as a 14- year old boy stood as an Irish record for more than ten years and Brian Langan reached a remarkable 1m83cm in the high jump also at the age of 14- years old. The success of these athletes spurred others on during the early nineties to win All Ireland Championships such as Eilish Cunningham in hurdles, Sinead Kelly in javelin, Nigel Madden in the walk, and Paul Mulroy in the triple jump.