 Johnny Hayes in 1908 | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth name | John Joseph Hayes | |||||||||||
| Born | April 10, 1886 New York City, New York, U.S. | |||||||||||
| Died | August 25, 1965 (aged 79) Englewood, New Jersey, U.S. | |||||||||||
| Height | 1.62 m (5 ft 4 in) | |||||||||||
| Weight | 55 kg (121 lb) | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||
| Event | Marathon | |||||||||||
| Club | I-AAC, Queens | |||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||
| Personalbest | Marathon – 2:26:04 (1908) (at 24 mile distance)[1][2] | |||||||||||
Medal record
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John Joseph Hayes (April 10, 1886 – August 25, 1965) was an Americanathlete, a member of theIrish American Athletic Club, and winner of themarathon race at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Hayes' Olympic victory contributed to the early growth of long-distance running and marathoning in the United States.[3][4] He was also the first man to win a marathon at the now official standard distance of 26 miles 385 yards when Olympic officials lengthened the distance to put the finish line in front of the Royal Box (the 1896 and 1904 Olympic marathons had been less than 25 miles long).[5]
Born inNew York City to a family ofIrish emigrants (fromNenagh inCounty Tipperary), Johnny Hayes is probably best known for winning the controversial marathon race at the London Olympics. Hayes is one of only three male American athletes to win theOlympic Marathon, (the other two beingThomas Hicks in1904 andFrank Shorter in1972).
In 1905, he joined Bloomingdale Brothers as an assistant to the manager of the sporting goods department. At night, he trained on a cinder track on the roof of theBloomingdales building in New York. He was promoted to manager of the department after returning from his Olympic victory.[6]
Hayes started his athletics career with a fifth-place finish at the 1906Boston Marathon, running for the St. Bartholemew Athletic Club in a time of 2:55:38.[7] He improved on that the following year by finishing third inBoston with a time of 2:30:38 and winning the inauguralYonkers Marathon.[1][8] In 1908 he finished second, 21 seconds behind Thomas Morrissey in theBoston Marathon with a time of 2:26:04 and thus qualified for theOlympic Games held inLondon that same year.[9]
The British Olympic Association wanted to start the race in front ofWindsor Castle and finish in front of the royal reviewing stand at theWhite City Stadium. As a result, the distance was 26 miles and 385 yards (42.195 km). It took until 1921 for theIAAF to codify that distance as the official length of the marathon. Prior to this, races were usually about 25 miles (40 km). He died in 1965.
At the race itself,Dorando Pietri fromItaly was the first to enter the stadium. But Pietri had depleted himself to open a more than 10 minute lead over the field and was suffering extreme fatigue anddehydration. When he entered the stadium, he took the wrong path, and when umpires redirected him, he fell down for the first time. He got up with their help in front of 75,000 spectators.
Pietri fell four more times, and each time, the umpires helped him up. He managed to finish the race first, with a time of 2h 54min 46s. During all these stumbles and the direct aid from the officials, Hayes had now entered the stadium, finishing the race second, with a time of 2h 55min 18s.
Pietri was disqualified after the US officials filed a protest. Despite the official result, Pietri achieved much more fame than Hayes whenQueen Alexandra awarded him a special silver cup.[1]
All of the Olympic officials were British, and the Pietri incident joined a list of other controversial calls in the 1908 Olympics, prompting the International Olympic Committee to start appointing judges from a wide variety of countries instead of only the host country.
After the dramatic Olympic battle between Pietri and Hayes, public interest was such that a match race was organized by professional promoters in November 1908 atMadison Square Garden. Pietri won the race by 75 yards. A second match race was held on March 15, 1909, and again Pietri won. Both Pietri and Hayes turned professional after the Olympics and achieved great fame.[1]
Hayes was a trainer for the US1912 Olympic team. He later taught physical education and was a food broker. Johnny Hayes died inEnglewood, New Jersey.[1]
The Shore Athletic Club of New Jersey (Shore AC) holds the Johnny Hayes collection as lifetime trustees. Included in the collection are numerous trophies, as well as the 1908 Olympic gold medal for the marathon. This represents the first Olympic gold medal to be won at the modern marathon distance of 26 miles, 385 yards.
Johnny Hayes was a guest on the television showI've Got a Secret as one of five former Olympic champions, which aired on October 13, 1954.[10]
In 2002, three statues honoring Olympic champions with links to Nenagh,Matt McGrath, Johnny Hayes andBob Tisdall, were unveiled in front of theNenagh Courthouse.[11]
| Records | ||
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| Preceded by record established | Men's Marathon World Record Holder July 24, 1908 – January 1, 1909 | Succeeded by |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
