John Flanagan

John Joseph Flanagan, born on 28 January 1868 in the townland of Ballinvreena in County Limerick, Ireland, was an Irish-American three-time Olympic gold medalist in the hammer throw, winning in 1900, 1904 and 1908. He became the British hammer throw champion at the 1896 AAA Championships, emigrated to the United States in 1896 already holding the world record, and competed for the New York Athletic Club and the Irish American Athletic Club as one of the group of Irish-American athletes known as the Irish Whales. At the 1900 Olympics he was the only non-college man to medal for the Americans, beating Truxtun Hare by 4.75 metres. He joined the New York City Police Department in 1903, set a world record of 168 feet 1 inch at the 1904 Games, where he was also second in the 56 pound throw, and broke his own record with 170 feet 4.5 inches in London in 1908. He returned to Limerick in 1911, coached the future two-time Olympic champion Patrick O'Callaghan and died there on 3 June 1938.