Timothy Joseph Ahearne (17 August 1885 – 12 December 1968) was an Irish

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 who competed for the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into one sovereign state, established by the Acts of Union 1800, Acts of Union in 1801. It continued in this form until ...

in the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...

Biography

Son of William Aherne, a farmer, and Margaret Aherne (née Shine), he was born in Dirreen,

Athea Athea ( ; or ''Áth Té'') is a village in west County Limerick, Ireland. Athea has a Roman Catholic church, and is the centre for the parish of Athea, which encompasses several nearby townlands. History The community was dependent on agricult ...

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

, and was the older brother of Dan Ahearn, the world record holder of the triple jump from 1911–1924. Ahearne won the gold medal in the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...

at the

held in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

while representing the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. He finished eighth in the long jump competition and also participated in the standing long jump event, but his result is unknown. In the

110 metre hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten ...

, where he was an Irish champion, he was eliminated in the semi-finals. After his Olympic victory in 1908, Ahearne 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 long jump event at the 1909 AAA Championships. Ahearne emigrated to New York in 1909 and joined 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", ...

. He also competed for a time for the rival

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 ...

. Later in life, Ahearne raised "prize-winning" cattle on a farm in

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

. His current relatives live in the United States of America today.

References

External links

Tim Ahearne's profile at Sports Reference.comWinged Fist OrganizationDictionary of Irish Biography
* 1885 births 1968 deaths 19th-century Irish people Irish male triple jumpers British male triple jumpers British male long jumpers British male hurdlers Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Athletes from County Limerick Irish male long jumpers Irish male hurdlers Irish emigrants to the United States Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) {{UK-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub