James Joseph Barrett (17 December 1879 – 27 July 1942) was an Irish

track and field athlete Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

who represented

Great Britain at the 1908 Summer Olympics Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed as the host nation of the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. The British Olympic Association was the National Olympic Committee responsible for organising the United King ...

Biography

Barrett was born in Rahela, Ballyduff,

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and worked as a

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the island was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom. A sep ...

officer. He was the brother of Edward Barrett. Barrett represented

in London, where he participated in the Greek discus throw event and in the

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

competition, but in both contests his distances thrown are unknown. Barrett won the British

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 ...

title in the shot put event at the

1911 AAA Championships The 1911 AAA Championships was the 1911 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held on Saturday 1 July 1911 at the Stamford Bridge (stadium) in London, England. The ...

. He finished third behind

Einar Nilsson Einar Nilsson (8 June 1891 – 22 February 1937) was a Swedish track and field athlete who competed in the 1912 and 1920 Summer Olympics. Career Nilsson was selected to represent Sweden in his home Olympics in 1912 in Stockholm. He entered ...

in the shot put event at the

1913 AAA Championships The 1913 AAA Championships was the 1913 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held on Saturday 5 July 1913 at the Stamford Bridge (stadium) in London, England. The ...

. After the war, Barrett continued to compete at elite level and finished second behind

Wesley Coe Wesley William Coe Jr. (May 8, 1879 – December 24, 1926), sometimes listed as William Wesley Coe Jr., was an American track and field athlete who competed principally in the shot put and also in the hammer throw, discus throw, and tug of war. ...

in the 56lb weight throw event at the 1920 AAA Championships and winning the shot put event at the

1923 AAA Championships The 1923 AAA Championships was the 1923 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 6 to 7 July 1923 at Stamford Bridge (stadium), Stamford Bridge in London, En ...

References

External links

* * 1879 births 1942 deaths Irish male discus throwers Irish male shot putters British male discus throwers British male shot putters Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics Athletes from County Kerry Royal Irish Constabulary officers Police officers from County Kerry People from Ballyduff, County Kerry {{UK-athletics-bio-stub