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This Day in Track & Field–August 18
1920— For the 5th Olympics in a row, an “Irish Whale” won the Hammer Throw, with 37-year old Paddy Ryan (173-5 ½ [52.875] following in the footsteps of John Flanagan (1900-1904-1908) and Matt McGrath( (1912). (The Irish Whales were a group of Irish-Americans who dominated the throwing events in the early part of the 20th century. They were also members of the NY City Police Department at some point.). Finishing 2-3 in Antwerp were Sweden’s Carl-Johan Lind (158-10 [48.43]) and American Basil Bennet
(158-3 [48.25]).
Born in Ireland, Ryan emigrated to the U.S. in 1910. His U.S. citizenship wasn’t confirmed in time for him to compete at the 1912 Olympics, and then another hold was put on his Olympic dreams when World War I led to the cancellation of the 1916 Games.
After serving with the U.S. Expeditionary Forces in Europe, Ryan, still yearning to be an Olympian, returned to competition in 1919 and his patience was rewarded with his win in Antwerp.
Canada’s Earl “Tommy” Thomson, the IC4A and AAU Champion from Dartmouth, won the 110-meter hurdles in the World Record time of 14.8. Thomson had set a WR of 14.4 for the slightly shorter 120-yard hurdles while winning the IC4A title. America’s Harold Barron (15.1) and Feg Murray (15.1) finished 2nd & 3rd.
Sweden’s Willam Petersson (later changed his name to Björneman) won the Long Jump with a leap of 23-5 ½ (7.15]), with silver and bronze going to American Carl Johnson (23-3 3/8 [7.095]) and another Swede, Erik Abrahamsson (23-2 ¾ [7.08]).
Sol Butler, who had jumped (24-8 ¼ [7.52]) at the U.S. Trials, was the prohibitive favorite entering the Games, but suffered an injury to his left achilles after landing in the pit on his first jump (finished 7th/21-8 [6.60]). A gracious Peterson later wrote, “The best…
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