Peter O'Connor (24 October 1872 – 9 November 1957) was an Irish

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who set a long-standing world record for the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

and won two Olympic medals in the

1906 Intercalated Games The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated in Athens, Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were referred to as the "Second International Olympic Games i ...

Early career

Born in

Millom Millom is a town and civil parish on the north shore of the estuary of the River Duddon in southwest Cumbria, historically part of Cumberland, England. It is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, about north of Barrow-in-Furnes ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, on 24 October 1872, O'Connor grew up in

Wicklow Wicklow ( ; ga, Cill Mhantáin , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; non, Víkingaló) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. It is located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island. According to the 2016 census, it has ...

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He joined the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include t ...

(GAA) in 1896. In 1899 he won All-Ireland medals in

, high jump and hop, step and jump (triple jump). Over the next ten years he consistently beat British athletes in international competitions: the (British) Amateur Athletic Association invited him to represent Britain in the Olympic Games in 1900, but he refused, as he only wished to represent Ireland.

World record

As of June 1900, the

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 organization ...

for the long jump was held by

Myer Prinstein Myer (or Meyer) Prinstein (born Mejer Prinsztejn, December 22, 1878 – March 10, 1925) was a Polish American track and field athlete and member of the Irish American Athletic Club. He held the world record for the long jump and won gold meda ...

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, at 24 ft 7¼ins (~7.50m). In 1900 and 1901, competing with the Irish Amateur Athletic Association (IAAA), a rival association to the GAA, O'Connor set several unofficial world records in the long jump. He set an officially recognised world record of 24 ft 9ins (~7.54m) at the Royal Dublin Society's grounds in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

on 27 May 1901. On 5 August 1901 he jumped 24 ft 11¾ins (7.61m) in Dublin. This was the first

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

recognised long jump world record. It caused a sensation at the time, being only a fraction short of the 25 ft (7.62m) barrier, and remained unbeaten for 20 years, a longevity surpassed only by

Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lifet ...

's 25-year record and

Bob Beamon Robert Beamon (born August 29, 1946) is an American former track and field athlete, best known for his world record in the long jump at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968. By jumping 8.90 m (29 ft. 2.5 in), he broke the existing record by ...

's 23-year record and by the current record of Mike Powell. It remained an Irish record for a remarkable 89 years.

1906 Olympic Games

In 1906 O'Connor and two other athletes, Con Leahy and John Daly, were entered for the

Intercalated Games The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated in Athens, Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were referred to as the "Second International Olympic Games i ...

in Athens by the IAAA and GAA, representing Ireland. They were given green blazers and cap 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 games were changed so that only athletes nominated by National Olympic Committees were eligible. Ireland did not have an Olympic Committee, and the British Olympic Council claimed the three. On registering for the Games, O'Connor and his fellow-athletes found that they were listed as Great Britain, not Irish, team members. In the long jump competition, O'Connor finally met

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", ...

who was competing for the U.S. team and whose world record O'Connor had broken five years previously. The only judge for the competition was Matthew Halpin, who was manager of the American team. O'Connor protested, fearing bias, but was overruled. He continued to protest Halpin's decisions through the remainder of the competition. The distances were not announced until the end of the competition. When they were, Prinstein was declared the winner, with O'Connor in Silver Medal position. At the flag-raising ceremony, in protest at the flying of the

Union Flag The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

for his second place, O'Connor scaled a flagpole in the middle of the field and waved the Irish flag, while the pole was guarded by Con Leahy. In the hop, step and jump competition two days later, O'Connor beat his fellow-countryman, Con Leahy, to win the gold medal. At 34, he was the oldest ever Gold Medal winner in this event. Prinstein, the champion in 1900 and 1904, did not feature in the medals.

Later career

O'Connor won no more titles after 1906. He remained involved in athletics all his life. He was a founder member and first Vice-President of Waterford Athletic Club, and attended later Olympics both as judge and spectator. He practised as a solicitor in

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

, and was married with nine children. He died in Waterford on 9 November 1957.

References

* ''The King of Spring - The Life and Times of Peter O'Connor.'' Mark Quinn.
Peter O'Connor
Sports Reference. Retrieved on 26 March 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Peter Sportspeople from County Wicklow People from Millom 1872 births 1957 deaths Athletes (track and field) at the 1906 Intercalated Games World record setters in athletics (track and field) Irish male long jumpers Irish male triple jumpers British male long jumpers British male triple jumpers Medalists at the 1906 Intercalated Games Sportspeople from Cumbria