Irishman wins gold for America at Olympics, but what of Ireland’s right to compete?

Antwerp, 19 August 1920 - Limerick-native Patrick Ryan has won a gold medal for the United States at the Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium.

Ryan cruised to victory in the hammer throwing event, continuing a strong tradition of Irish athletes in Olympic field events. The final of the event took place today, the first rainy day since the games opened, with Ryan recording a distance of 52.875m.

Also today, Hedges Worthington-Eyre, born in Dún Laoghaire, and a member of the Dublin University athletics club, finished second in his heat in the 400 metres representing Great Britain.

The City of London Police tug of war team representing Great Britain during the 1920 Olympics (Image: Manchester Guardian, 20 August 1920)

Other events
Today also saw the final of the 1500m in which Great Britain claimed gold and silver through Albert Hill and Philip Noel-Baker respectively.

Britain met with more success in the tug of war final, beating the Netherlands 2-0. The first pull took almost 29 seconds and that seemed to break their opponents' resolve, with the second only taking around 3 and a half seconds.

Irish Olympic Council Secretary AC Harty's letter to the Dáil about Ireland's attempt to be recognised at the Olympics. Click here for the full document. (Images: National Archives of Ireland, DE/2/71)

Ireland at the Olympics
Antwerp’s hosting of the seventh Olympic games has shone a light on the absence of a separate Irish team from the great festival of sport.

This year has seen significant movement on that front with the establishment of an Irish Olympic Council (IOC) to seek formal recognition for Irish amateur competitors under the regulations of the Olympic games. A provisional committee for the IOC was established in April and released a statement in April, declaring the non-recognition of Ireland as an ‘anomalous and unworthy’.

‘We are convinced’, the statement continued, ‘that a full statement of Ireland’s claim – based upon racial, geographical and athletic grounds – formulated by a representative National Committee would not now be rejected by the International Committee … Our Nation has a history of adeptness in, and devotion to athletic pursuits coeval at least with that of Greece itself.’

Select individuals were asked to endorse the push for Irish recognition and it was in response to this invitation that the council was formed. Members include: John Harty, Archbishop of Cashel; Laurence O’Neill, Lord Mayor of Dublin; Laurence O’Toole, GAA President; JJ Keane, President of the Athletic Council of the GAA; and Douglas Hyde, founder of the Gaelic League.

The council made their point directly to the International Olympic Committee at Lausanne and to the Olympic executive in Belgium but were unsuccessful, at least for the 1920 games. However, several Irish athletes are competing in Belgium for Great Britain and the USA.

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[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]