Hammer Throw, Men

Pat O’Callaghan wanted to try for a three-peat in the hammer throw in 1936. But there were two Irish governing bodies in athletics, and he aligned himself with the “wrong” one, the National Athletic and Cycling Association of Ireland (NACAI), or at least the one that was not recognized by the IAAF. The problem was that the NACAI claimed control over all 32 Irish counties, including Ulster, and the IAAF demanded that they be in charge of only the 26 counties of the Irish Free State. Thus O’Callaghan was not allowed to compete. He would have been favored again, throwing 59.56 (195-5) in 1937, well above the world record although it was not recognized. In his absence the first two places were taken by Germans, with Karl Hein winning a big upset victory. He trailed his countryman, Erwin Blask, until the final throw but came thru in the last round with 56.49 (185-4) to secure the gold medal. In 1938 Blask would throw 59.00 (193-7) to break the long-standing world record of 57.77 (189-6½) set by Paddy Ryan in 1913.