World Record: 57.77m Patrick Ryan, United States New York, United States August 17, 1913
Olympic Record: 54.74m Matt McGrath, United States Stockholm, Sweden July 14, 1912
The pre-Olympic lists were topped by Connor, O’Callaghan and
Skiöld. However, Connor placed only fourth in the US Trials, and was
considered the least likely of the three to win. O’Callaghan was untested,
having improved more than 5m in 1928, so Skiöld, who had led the
world in 1926 and 1927, was the favourite. After the qualifying stage,
Connor lagged in sixth with 46.75, which would be his best throw of
the day, while O’Callaghan was third with 47.49. Way ahead was
Skiöld with 51.29, leading from Black’s 49.03. It was only in the penultimate
round that O’Callaghan took the lead, with 51.39, to win
Ireland’s first Olympic gold medal. However five of the previous six
hammer titles had gone to Irish-born athletes. The unfortunate Skiöld
thus lost the gold by just 10cm.
Ireland
Sweden
United States
Italy
Argentina
Chile
Finland
Netherlands
Great Britain
Japan
Norway
