 Connolly in 1906 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | James Brendan Bennet Connolly October 28, 1868 |
| Died | January 20, 1957(1957-01-20) (aged 88) |
| Height | 5 ft8+1⁄2 in (174 cm) |
| Weight | 159 lb (72 kg) |
| Sport | |
| Country |  United States |
| Sport | Athletics |
Medal record | |
James Brendan Bennet Connolly (Irish:Séamas Breandán Ó Conghaile, October 28, 1868 – January 20, 1957) was an Americanathlete and author. In 1896, he became the first modernOlympic champion.[1][2]
Connolly was born to poorIrish immigrants from theAran Islands, fisherman John Connolly and Ann O'Donnell, as one of twelve children, inSouth Boston, Massachusetts. Growing up at a time when the parks and playground movement in Boston was slowly developing, Connolly joined other boys in the streets and vacant lots to run, jump, and play ball.
He was educated at Notre Dame Academy and then at the Mather and Lawrence grammar school, but never went to high school. Instead, Connolly worked as a clerk with an insurance company inBoston and later with theUnited States Army Corps of Engineers inSavannah, Georgia.
His predisposition to sport also became apparent. Calling a special meeting of the Catholic Library Association (CLA) of Savannah in 1891, he was instrumental in forming afootball team. Soon thereafter, Connolly was elected captain of the CLA Cycling Club and aggressively sought to promote the sport on behalf of the Savannah Wheelmen.
Altogether dissatisfied with his career path, Connolly sought to regain the lost years of high school through self-education. In October 1895, he sat for the entrance examination to theLawrence Scientific School and was unconditionally accepted to study the classics atHarvard University.
After the creation of theInternational Olympic Committee in 1894 the first modern edition of theOlympic Games were scheduled for April 6 to 15, 1896 inAthens,Greece. Connolly decided to participate, and submitted a request for a leave of absence to the Chairman of the Harvard University Committee on the Regulation of Athletic Sports and was denied. According to Connolly himself, he was informed that his only course of action would be to resign and make a reapplication to the college. Connolly then claimed to have replied:
I am not resigning and I'm not making application to re-enter. I'm getting through with Harvard right now. Good day!
It is unclear whether this really happened. Harvard records do show a request by Connolly for a leave of absence to Europe, which was denied. Connolly then requested an honorable withdrawal as a student, which was granted on March 19, 1896.
Representing theSuffolk Athletic Club, which paid for most of Connolly's expenses (Connolly later claimed he paid it all himself), he left for Greece on a German freighter, theBarbarossa, along with most of the rest of the first American Olympic team. After arriving inNaples, Italy he was robbed and almost lost his ticket to Athens. He managed to retrieve it only after a pursuit against the robber. Finally he took the train to Athens, arriving there just in time for the Games.
The first final on the opening day was thetriple jump (then known as thehop, skip and jump), one of the events in which Connolly competed. Connolly's style, taking two hops with the right foot, is no longer allowed in this event but was perfectly acceptable in 1896. With this style, he outjumped the field, finishing more than one meter ahead of his nearest opponent by jumping 13.71 m (45 ft 0 in) 11 3/4 in), earning him the first silver medal (gold medals did not yet exist). With this performance, he became the first Olympic champion since AD 385, when the AthenianZopyrus won thepankration (other sources name the ArmenianVarasdates, who won atboxing in 369).
He went on to take second place in thehigh jump (1.65 m; 5 ft 5 in) tying withRobert Garrett behindEllery Clark, and third place in thelong jump (5.84 m; 19 ft 2 in). Back home in Boston, Connolly was welcomed enthusiastically, and was presented a gold watch by the citizens of South Boston.
Connolly competed at the1906 Olympics in the Triple Jump and Long Jump.[3]
Connolly would also visit thesecond edition of the modern Olympics, held inParis. There, he failed to retain his title in the triple jump, losing to compatriotMeyer Prinstein.
In the 1984NBCminiseriesThe First Olympics: Athens 1896, he was portrayed byDavid Caruso. Contrary to what is portrayed in the film, Connolly did not emigrate to America from Ireland.
Connollystraße inMunich is notably associated with the1972 Summer Olympics and the tragic events of theMunich Massacre. It was on Connollystraße 31, within the Olympic Village, where members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September. The street is named in his honour. Thus, it holds both historical significance for its namesake and somber relevance due to its connection to the 1972 tragedy.[4]
The1904 Summer Olympics were also attended by Connolly, but as a journalist, not as an athlete. Earlier, he had already published his accounts of theSpanish–American War in theBoston Globe asLetters from the Front inCuba. He served there in the Irish 9th Infantry of Massachusetts.
Connolly became an authority on maritime writing, after spending years on many different vessels, fishing boats, military ships all over the world. In all, he published more than 200 short stories, and 25novels. Furthermore, he twice ran forCongress of the United States on the ticket of theProgressive Party, but was never elected.
He never returned to Harvard, but received an honorary athletic sweater in 1948. A year later, he was offered an honorary doctorate by Harvard University, which he turned down. He was a member of theNational Institute of Arts and Letters.[5] Connolly died inNew York City at the age of 88. A collection of items related to Connolly, including his triple jump silver medal, is housed in the library ofColby College inMaine.
Connolly was a crew member of the victorious schoonerEsperanto in 1920, during the first International Fishing Schooner Championship Races inHalifax, Nova Scotia. He wrote of this inCollier's Weekly on December 25, 1920, and inThe Book of the Gloucester Fishermen, published in 1927.
In 1912, Connolly was the Progressive nominee for Congress from South Boston and Dorchester.[6] He was defeated by incumbent CongressmanJames Michael Curley.
When Curley resigned to become Mayor of Boston in 1914, Connolly ran again in the special election to replace him, but finished third behindJames A. Gallivan and Republican Frank Brier. He died in 1957 at 88.
Connolly's novels include[5]
James b connolly connollystrasse munich.
