1
GOLD
2
SILVER
1
BRONZE
Athlete Bio#
Age
Died (Aged 88)
1868-1957
Hometown
Boston, MA
Education
Harvard University
Personal
Dropped out of formal education before high school, yet earned a scholarship to study at Harvard University following a period of self-tuition...Had to jump onto a moving train to make it to Athens prior to the Olympic Games Athens 1896...With his win in the triple jump, Connolly became the first Olympic gold medalist of the modern Olympic Games....Served with the 9th Massachusetts Infantry at the Siege of Santiago in 1898...Attended the Olympic Games St. Louis 1904 as a journalist for the Boston Globe...Published more than 200 short stories and 25 novels through his literary career.Olympic Experience
- 2-time Olympian; 4-time Olympic medalist (1 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)
- Olympic Games Paris 1900, silver (Triple Jump - Men)
- Olympic Games Athens 1896, gold (Triple Jump - Men), silver (High Jump - Men), bronze (Long Jump - Men)
Hall Of Fame Bio #
James Connolly is an American track and field athlete who was known for being the first gold medalist of the modern Olympic Games. Born in Boston to a family of poor Irish immigrants, Connolly played a number of sports and earned a scholarship to study classics at Harvard University despite dropping out of formal education before high school. He applied for leave from Harvard in order to represent the U.S. at the Olympic Games Athens 1896. Harvard refused, and Connolly abandoned his program to attend the Athens Games. Connolly earned the gold medal in triple jump, the silver medal in high jump and the bronze medal in long jump at the Athens 1896 Games, and went on to capture the silver medal in the triple jump four years later at the Paris 1900 Games. He set foot on Harvard’s campus 50 years later when he was invited to speak about literature before the Harvard Union. Connolly served in the U.S. Navy and made an attempt to run for Congress. He also worked as a journalist and writer for many years, and wrote a number of novels over the rest of his life.
