Francis Gailey (21 January 1882 – 10 July 1972) was an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n-born American competition

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who swam in the

1904 Summer Olympics The 1904 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the III Olympiad and also known as St. Louis 1904) were an international multi-sport event held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from 1 July to 23 November 1904. Many events were conducted ...

held in St. Louis, Missouri. Gailey was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Queensland, Australia, but later emigrated to the United States and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1906. For the 1904 Olympics, he was sponsored by the Olympic Club of San Francisco. The

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

(IOC) officially counts Gailey's four medals for the United States, although research undertaken by several Australian newspapers in 2008–09 showed that Gailey was an Australian citizen at the time.Harry Gordon,
Unveiled: our lost Olympic champion
" ''Sydney Morning Herald'' (28 February 2009). Retrieved 26 October 2014. In 2009, the

Australian Olympic Committee The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) is the National Olympic Committee responsible for developing, promoting, and protecting the Olympic Movement in Australia. The AOC has the exclusive responsibility for the representation of Australia at ...

stated that "Gailey's medals, newly credited to Australia, increase the nation's total at summer Olympics to 449". At the

, Gailey competed in four swimming events, and due to the lack of entrants all the events were straight finals, on 6 September he entered the 220 yard freestyle, where he finished just under two seconds behind American Charles Daniels and gained a silver medal, on the same day he also entered the 1 mile freestyle and after swimming for nearly 29 minutes he finished in third place behind German

Emil Rausch Emil A. Rausch (11 September 1883 – 14 December 1954) was a German freestyle swimmer who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics and 1906 Intercalated Games. In the 1904 Olympics, he won gold medals in the 880 yard freestyle and 1 mile freestyl ...

and Hungarian

Géza Kiss Géza Kiss (born ''Géza Klein''; 22 October 1882 – 23 August 1952) was a Hungarian freestyle swimmer who competed at the 1904 Summer Olympics and at the 1906 Intercalated Games. At the 1904 Olympics he won a silver medal in the 1 mile fre ...

. The next day Gailey competed in his other two events the 440 yard freestyle, where again he finished second to Charles Daniels, and then the German

beat him in the 880 yard freestyle, so in his two days of events he finished with three silver medals and one bronze.

References

External links

Frank Gailey
– Olympic athlete profile databaseOlympics.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gailey, Francis 1882 births 1972 deaths American male freestyle swimmers Australian male freestyle swimmers Australian emigrants to the United States Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic swimmers for Australia Swimmers from Brisbane Swimmers at the 1904 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1904 Summer Olympics Sportsmen from Queensland 20th-century American sportsmen

See also

References

External links