Today in sports history – 6 April

As sport grinds to a halt all over the world due to the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve decided to have a daily look back at those “simpler” times, when there was triumph, drama and disappointment on various fields and arenas.

This is today in sport history… and it’s an Olympic special!

Sport, 1896 Olympic Games, Athens, Ilustration, This illustration shows the first Gold medal winner ever at the “modern olympics” James Brendan Connolly, U,S,A, the Triple Jump winner on the opening day , The 1896 Olympic Games were the first of the “modern olympics” (Photo by Bob Thomas/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)

1896

A few hours after the first Olympic ceremony – which featured nine bands and about 150 choir singers – was concluded, American
James Connolly has the sizeable Athens crowd in raptures by becoming the the first ever modern Olympic champion.

The then 27-year-old wins the triple jump, crudely known at the time simply as “hop, skip and jump” (seriously), with the utmost comfort, his best jump finishing almost a metre further than his closest rival. Interestingly, he only received a silver medal for his efforts because that was the metal the organising committee agreed upon for winners. They would also be crowned with an olive wreath.

However, the real triumph lay in Connolly’s perilous journey just to get to Greece. Despite his undoubted academic ability, he didn’t attend high school, instead opting to become a clerk at a Boston insurance company at 14 and then joining the Army Corps. Clearly weary of having worked throughout his teens, Connolly decided to self-school himself to pursue a tertiary education.

After gaining an entrance exam to Harvard’s engineering faculty, he was eventually admitted to classical studies. Yet Connolly had always been an avid sportsman and sorely wanted to go to the Olympics. He initially sought a leave of absence, but his Dean denied the request. Instead, an honourable withdrawal was given.

Then came the journey. Connolly boarded the Barbarrosa, a flagship German freighter that would take the majority of the US’ Olympic athletes to Europe. Upon arrival in Naples, he had his wallet stolen before his showed all his athletic prowess in catching up with the culprit. When he finally managed to get a train to Greece, he was late and had to run after it, catching it in the nick of time.

The drama didn’t end there. Connolly got the schedule totally mixed up when he got to Athens. To celebrate his crazy journey, he partied all night long and only got three hours’ of sleep, thinking his arrival meant he had 11 days of rest ahead. Instead, he learned at breakfast that the triple jump was just hours away.

Given the effort it took just to get to the showpiece event and his confusion over the itinerary, Connolly neglected his training regime and put on almost 6kg of weight. It was hardly the ideal shape to be in, but the Bostonian had no other choice. His unorthodox technique though proved crucial as he galloped and then jumped to his long jump win.

Connolly would also go on to finish second in the high jump and bronze in the long jump.

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