Cornelius "Con" Leahy (27 April 1876 – 18 December 1921) was an Irish

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

, who won medals at the

1906 Intercalated Games The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games (), held from 22 April 1906 to 2 May 1906, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated in Athens, Kingdom of Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were re ...

and the

1908 Olympic Games The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...

for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

Biography

Leahy was born in Creggane, outside

Bruree Bruree () is a village in south-eastern County Limerick, Ireland, on the River Maigue. It takes its name from the nearby ancient royal fortress, the alternative name of which from the earliest times into the High Middle Ages was ''Dún Eochair ...

, on the

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

border, to Thomas Leahy and Mary McDonough. He was one of seven brothers, all of whom were sportsmen. His brother

Patrick Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

won the British

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

record in 1898 and went on to win Olympic medals in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15 ...

. Another brother, Timothy, also jumped competitively. Leahy won four consecutive British high jump title after winning the

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the offi ...

from the

1905 AAA Championships The 1905 AAA Championships was the 1905 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held on Saturday 1 July 1905 at the Stamford Bridge (stadium) in London, England, in f ...

to the

1908 AAA Championships The 1908 AAA Championships was the 1908 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held on Saturday 4 July 1908 at the White City Stadium in London, England. The attenda ...

. In 1906, Leahy, Peter O'Connor and John Daly, were entered for the

Intercalated Games The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games (), held from 22 April 1906 to 2 May 1906, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated in Athens, Kingdom of Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were re ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

by the Irish Amateur Athletic Association (IAAA) and

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

(GAA), representing Ireland. However, the rules of the games were changed so that only athletes nominated by National Olympic Committees were eligible. Ireland did not have an Olympic Committee, and the British Olympic Council claimed the three. On registering for the Games, Leahy and his fellow-athletes found that they were listed as United Kingdom, not Irish, team members. Leahy was subsequently involved in the protest at the flag-raising ceremony for the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

when O'Connor scaled a flagpole in the middle of the field and waved the Irish flag. Leahy won the gold medal in the high jump with 1.775 meters, beating Hungarian

Lajos Gönczy Lajos Gönczy (24 February 1882 – 3 December 1915)Lajos Gön ...

by 2.5 cm. After his victory was certain, Leahy still tried to reach 1.83 meters, but he failed at this height twice. Leahy then took part in the hop, step and jump, which O'Connor won with 14.075 meters with Leahy coming second with 13.98 meters. In the

, Leahy again took part in the high jump. Three jumpers, Leahy,

Géo André Georges Yvan "Géo" André (13 August 1889 – 4 May 1943) was a French track and field athlete and rugby union player. Biography As an athlete, he competed in the 1908, 1912, 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics in various events, including long j ...

and

István Somodi István Somodi (22 August 1885, Cluj-Napoca, Kolozsvár, Kingdom of Hungary – 8 June 1963, Cluj, Romanian People's Republic, Romania) was a Hungary, Hungarian athlete who competed mainly in the high jump. He competed for Hungary at t ...

, shared second place with 1.88 meters behind the American

Harry Porter Harry Franklin Porter (August 31, 1882 in Bridgeport, Connecticut – June 27, 1965) was a high jumper from the United States of America. He was a member of the Irish American Athletic Club, and won gold in the High Jump in the 1908 Summer ...

, who won with 1.90 meters.

Later years and death

In 1909 Con and Patrick Leahy emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Con died in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

in 1921. In 2006, to mark the 100th anniversary of his Olympic medal win, a memorial was unveiled in Thomas Street, Limerick.Limerick County Council annual report 2006

Record

* 1906: Gold medal,

High jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

; Silver medal, hop, step and jump (triple jump) * 1908: Silver medal, High jump

References

Sources

* Ian Buchanan: ''British Olympians'', Enfield 1991 * Ekkehard zur Megede: ''The Modern Olympic Century 1896–1996 Track and Fields Athletics'', Berlin 1999 {{DEFAULTSORT:Leahy, Con 1876 births 1921 deaths Gaelic games players from County Limerick British male high jumpers British male triple jumpers Athletes (track and field) at the 1906 Intercalated Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Irish male triple jumpers Irish male high jumpers Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1906 Intercalated Games Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic male high jumpers Athletes from County Limerick