Matthew John McGrath (December 28, 1875 – January 29, 1941) was 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", ...

, 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 ...

, and the

New York City Police Department The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

. At the time of his death at age 64, he attained the rank of Police Inspector, and during his career received the NYPD's Medal of Valor twice. He competed for the U.S. team in the Olympics in 1908, 1912, 1920 and 1924 (at age 47). In his prime, he was known as "one of the world's greatest weight throwers."

Life

McGrath was born on 28 December 1875 in Curraghmore, near

Nenagh Nenagh ( ; , or simply 'the Fair') is the county town of County Tipperary in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Nenagh used to be a market town, and the site of the East Munster Ormond Fair. Nenagh was the county town of the former county of Nort ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

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 ...

, to Tim McGrath, a farmer, and Anne McGrath. He later immigrated to the United States. During his competitive years he stood tall and weighed , and was part of a group of large and dominant throwers referred to as the Irish Whales. He did not achieve success in the

hammer throw The hammer throw (HT for short) is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track-and-field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and Javelin throw, javelin. The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools a ...

until age 27, when he ranked seventh on the world list of best marks. He remained in the world's top ten up to the age of 50, making his career one of the longest and most consistent in the history of the sport. He won seven AAU hammer throw championships, won seven more in the little-contested 56-pound

weight throw Weight throw (or Weight for distance) is a traditional strength sport and throwing event derived from ancient Scottish Highland games. Unlike its other counterpart, the Weight over bar which involves a stationary pendulum like swing for height, ...

, and set two hammer throw world records. His lifetime best throw was the second of those records, , made at

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 ...

's Celtic Park on October 29, 1911. McGrath made his Olympic debut in 1908. He entered the Olympics as the (unofficial)

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

holder and took second behind John Flanagan's third consecutive victory. In 1912 McGrath won the Olympic title in dominating fashion (the shortest of his six throws was over longer than any other competitor's best throw) and set an Olympic record that stood for 24 years. At the

1920 Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...

McGrath was a co-favorite along with fellow

member Patrick Ryan, but finished fifth after injuring his knee during the competition. In 1924 he again won the silver medal and is the oldest American track and field medalist ever. An off day at the 1928 Final Olympic try-outs barely kept him off the 1928 Olympic team. There was a public outcry over McGrath's omission from the team and although he went to Amsterdam after a subscription fund had been raised to pay for his transportation, he was, not surprisingly, not allowed to compete. Held ages 35, 40, 45, 50 and 55 American Records in the Hammer Throw (today referred to as Masters Records). In 2002, three statues honoring Olympic champions with links to Nenagh, Matt McGrath,

Johnny Hayes John Joseph Hayes (April 10, 1886 – August 25, 1965) was an American athlete, a member of the Irish American Athletic Club, and winner of the marathon race at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Hayes' Olympic victory contributed to the early gro ...

and

Bob Tisdall Robert Morton Newburgh Tisdall (16 May 1907 in Nuwara Eliya, Ceylon – 27 July 2004 in Nambour, Queensland, Australia) was an Irish athlete who won a gold medal in the 400-metre hurdles at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Tisdall was ...

, were unveiled in front of the Nenagh Courthouse.

Notes

References

*Buchanan, Ian and Mallon, Bill (1984). ''Quest For Gold: The Encyclopedia of American Olympians.'' Leisure Press * * * *Hymans, Richard (1996) ''The United States Olympic Trials for Track and Field, 1908–1992.'' Indianapolis, IN: USA Track & Field. *Quercetani, Roberto L. (2000) ''Athletics: A History of Modern Track and Field Athletics.'' Milan, Italy: SEP Editrice srl. *Wallechinsky, David (2000) ''The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics, Sydney 2000 edition.'' Woodstock, NY: The Overlook Press.

External links

* *
Inspector Matthew J. McGrath: "The Prince of Whales"

Irish-born Medal Winners in the early Olympic Games

Olympic biography and photos
* * *
Winged Fist Organization
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGrath, Matt 1941 deaths American male hammer throwers Irish male hammer throwers Irish emigrants to the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1920 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics New York City Police Department officers Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Tug of war competitors at the 1908 Summer Olympics 1875 births Athletes from County Tipperary People from Nenagh Male weight throwers Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Track and field athletes from New York City Police officers from County Tipperary 20th-century American sportsmen