Joseph Paul McCluskey (June 2, 1911 – August 31, 2002) was an American

track and field 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 ...

athlete. During his running career, he won 27 national titles in various distance events and captured the

steeplechase SteepleChase Records is a jazz record company and label based in Copenhagen, Denmark. SteepleChase was founded in 1972 by Nils Winther, who was a student at Copenhagen University at the time. He began recording concerts at Jazzhus Montmartre, ...

title a record nine times in a 13-year period.

Biography

At the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held du ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, McCluskey won the bronze medal in the 3,000-meter steeplechase event. However, his medal could have been a silver. A substitute lap counter failed to hold up the number of the laps remaining the first time the runners went past, and the athletes wound up running an extra lap. McCluskey was second at what should have been the end of the regular race but dropped back to third during the extra lap. When offered the opportunity to rerun the race the next day, McCluskey said, "A race has only one finish line" and chose to let the results stand making it the only 3,460-meter steeplechase event ever held in Olympic history. McCluskey, born in South Manchester, Connecticut, was also a 1936 Olympian and coached the

New York Athletic Club The New York Athletic Club is a Gentlemen's club, private social club and athletic club in New York (state), New York state. Founded in 1868, the club has approximately 8,600 members and two facilities: the City House, located at 180 Central Pa ...

for fourteen years. He graduated from Manchester High School in 1929. A 1933 graduate of

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

, McCluskey was inducted into the Fordham University Hall of Fame, the NYAC Hall of Fame, the

USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is a United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and 1 ...

Hall of Fame in 1996 as well as the

Penn Relays The Penn Relays (officially The Penn Relay Carnival) is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. In 2012 ...

Wall of Fame posthumously in 2010. He served as Lieutenant Commander in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, then later married having eight children and employed as a stockbroker in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. McCluskey died in

Madison, Connecticut Madison is a New England town, town in the southeastern corner of New Haven County, Connecticut, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, occupying a central location on Connecticut's Long Island Sound shoreline. The town is part of the South ...

at the age of 91. He was survived by his wife Anne Conger, and his eight children, Joseph Jr., Mary Cotard, Kathleen McElroy, James, Robert, Richard, Susan Jaeger, and Martin van Buren. He also had 12 grandchildren, with his last grandchild born in 2003. His grandchildren are Julian and Antoine Cotard, Daniel and Emily McElroy, Andrew and Richard Jr. McCluskey, Joanna and Laura Jaeger, and Gabrielle, Liam, Lucas, and Aidan McCluskey. Two of his grandchildren, Daniel McElroy and Laura Jaeger, followed in his footsteps and attended Fordham University, where Laura competed, like her grandfather, on the track and field team running the 4x400 relay race.

References

External links

*
Joe McCluskey, "Manchester's Greatest Runner"
at the Manchester Historical Society
Joseph McCluskey
at the Fordham University Athletics Hall of Fame * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McCluskey, Joe 1911 births 2002 deaths American male steeplechase runners Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field Track and field athletes from Connecticut Athletes (track and field) at the 1932 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics Fordham University alumni Sportspeople from Manchester, Connecticut Medalists at the 1932 Summer Olympics American masters athletes 20th-century American sportsmen Manchester High School (Connecticut) alumni