Con Leahy

Con Leahy (actually Cornelius Leahy ; born April 27, 1876 in Charleville , Ireland , † November 18, 1921 in Manhattan , New York City ) was an Irish athlete and Olympic champion .

Leahy poses for photographers in London in 1908 before the competition

Leahy grew up as one of seven brothers in the country between Cork and Limerick . All the brothers were excellent athletes. In 1901, Patrick Leahy topped the world high jump list . In 1902, 1904, 1905 and 1908 Con Leahy topped the list and in 1910 Timothy Leahy.

Three Irish athletes, John Daly , Con Leahy and Peter O'Connor drove to Athens for the 1906 Olympic Intermediate Games . There they learned that only recognized National Olympic Committees were allowed to start. They were therefore not allowed to compete for Ireland , but started for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland .

Leahy won the high jump competition with 1.775 meters and 2.5 cm ahead of the Hungarian Lajos Gönczy . After his victory was certain, Con Leahy tried his hand at 1.83 meters, but he tore that height twice and then ended the competition. Shortly afterwards Leahy also took part in the triple jump . O'Connor won 14.075 meters from Leahy, who jumped 13.98 meters.

At the Olympic Games in 1908 Leahy took part in the high jump again. Behind the American Harry Porter , who won with 1.90 meters, three jumpers with 1.88 meters each took second place: Géo André , István Somodi and Leahy.

In 1909 Con and Patrick Leahy emigrated to the United States.

literature

• Ian Buchanan : British Olympians. Enfield 1991, ISBN 0-85112-952-8
• Ekkehard zur Megede: The Modern Olympic Century 1896-1996 Track and Fields Athletics. Berlin 1999 (published by the German Society for Athletics Documentation eV )

Web links

• Con Leahy in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Con Leahy in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )