John Joseph Daly (22 February 1880 – 11 March 1969) was an Irish runner who won a silver medal in 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, ...

at 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 ...

. He competed for Ireland at the

International Cross Country Championships The International Cross Country Championships was an annual international competition in cross- country running. It was created in 1903 by the International Cross Country Union (ICCU) and it marked the first time that an annual international ch ...

of 1903–1906 and won two silver team medals; individually he won a bronze in 1903 and finished fourth in 1904 and 1906. When not competing for Ireland as a member of the

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 ...

, Daly entered races as a member of the

Irish American Athletic Club The Irish American Athletic Club was an amateur athletic organization, based in Queens, New York, at the beginning of the 20th century. Early years Established on January 30, 1898, originally as the "Greater New York Irish Athletic Association", ...

Biography

Daly competed in the 2590 metre steeplechase at the

held in

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and won the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

. Daly represented

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 ...

. After the Olympics Daily stayed in North America for two years, and later that year won the Canadian mile and two-mile championships. In 1906, Daly and two other athletes,

Con Leahy Cornelius "Con" Leahy (27 April 1876 – 18 December 1921) was an Ireland, Irish Athletics (sport), athlete, who won medals at the 1906 Intercalated Games and the 1908 Summer Olympics, 1908 Olympic Games for United Kingdom of Great Britain ...

and Peter O'Connor, 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 ...

in Athens by the IAAA and

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, representing Ireland, and were given green blazers and caps with a gold shamrock, and an Irish flag (the ''

Erin Go Bragh Erin go Bragh ( ), sometimes Erin go Braugh, is the anglicisation of an Irish language phrase, , and is used to express allegiance to Ireland. It is most often translated as "Ireland Forever." Origin ''Erin go Bragh'' is an anglicisation of ...

'' flag). However, the rules of the Olympics were subsequently changed so that only athletes nominated by National Olympic Committees were eligible to compete. Since Ireland did not have an Olympic Committee, the British Olympic Council claimed the three athletes their own, with Daly and his fellow athletes being registered as competing for Britain. Later, O'Connor won the silver medal in the long jump, and he was enraged to see the

Union Jack The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

raised for his medal ceremony. In what became the first political protest in modern Olympic history, O'Connor scaled the flagpole, took down the Union Jack, and replaced it with the Irish flag. As officials and stadium security moved to intervene, Daly stood guard at the bottom of the pole with Irish-American wrestler Con O'Kelly, with Irish and American fans invading the field to assist them. At those Games, Daly finished third in the five-mile competition, but was disqualified for obstructing

Edward Dahl Edward Martin Dahl (3 August 1886, in Bromma – 21 November 1961) was a Sweden, Swedish Athletics (sport), athlete. He competed in the 1906 Intercalated Games in Athens and in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. At the Intercalated Games in 19 ...

. He abandoned his marathon race after 18 miles due to blisters and an ankle injury, which resulted in a three-day hospitalisation. After 1906, Daly mostly raced in the United States, where he later became a successful New York businessman. He was selected to compete for Great Britain and Ireland at the London 1908 Olympics, but he did not compete. In 1907, he enjoyed his greatest successes, winning the 5-mile and 10-mile U.S. A.A.U. titles and the Canadian 3-mile title. In 1909, running for the

, he came in second place in the

Yonkers Marathon The Yonkers Marathon, is a marathon race held annually in Yonkers, New York. Founded in 1907, it is the second oldest marathon in the United States, after the Boston Marathon. It is held on the third Sunday in October. In addition to the marat ...

, in a time of 2 hours 55 minutes and 44 and 4/5 seconds."POLICE BREAK UP YONKERS MARATHON; Order Official Off Track and Referee Sullivan Stops the Contest. FOWLER WINS OVER DALY Cambridge (Mass.) Runner Leads by Half Mile at Finish – Crowd Accuses Scorers of Unfairness." ''New York Times,'' 2 January 1909. This athlete is not to be confused with the Private John Daly (Connaught Rangers) who ran for Ireland at the 1911 International Cross Country Championships in Caerleon, Wales.

References

External links

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Winged Fist Organization
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Daly, John 1880 births 1969 deaths Irish male long-distance runners Irish male steeplechase runners Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1904 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Great Britain Gaelic games players from County Galway Medalists at the 1904 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Irish emigrants to the United States Athletes from County Galway