Pat Ryan

This article is about the Pat Ryan hammer thrower. For other people, see Patrick Ryan .

Pat Ryan, 1920

Statue of Patrick Ryan in Pallasgreen, County Limerick, Ireland

Pat Ryan ( Patrick James "Paddy" Ryan ; born January 4, 1883 in Limerick , † February 13, 1964 ibid) was an Irish-born American hammer thrower . He won the gold medal in his discipline at the Olympic Games in Antwerp .

Ryan emigrated from Ireland to the United States in 1901 to work for the New York Police Department. From 1913 to 1921 he won eight American championships in hammer throw, his winning streak was only interrupted in 1918 by his military service in France in the First World War. At the Olympic Games in Antwerp in 1920 he celebrated his greatest success, the gold medal in the hammer throw. He also won the silver medal in weight throwing there (56 pounds).

His world record in hammer throw of 57.77 m, set in 1913, could only be broken in 1937. His record was the first officially recorded hammer throw world record.

Ryan later went back to Limerick to run a farm.

successes

• 1920: Olympic Games Antwerp : 1st place hammer throw (52.875 m)
• 1920: Olympic Games Antwerp : 2nd place weight throw (10.965 m)

Web links

• Patrick Ryan in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )