Ireland's throwers

Throwing events form a separate and highly technical category in the world of athletics. Both the discus and the javelin featured in the Olympic programme in ancient Greece as part of the pentathlon, although for the hammer and shot putt, the origins are even more distant.

They can be traced back to the Tailteann Games, the oldest of all sporting festivals which date back to the Celtic period around 1830 BC - at least a millennium before the first evidence of the Olympics. The events were inspired by the feats of Cuchulainn, whose legend includes the reputation for throwing a huge stone, lashed to wooden beam, quite unbelievable distances.

When the modern Olympics were introduced, Ireland had a tradition of hammer throwing that other countries could only envy. For the 1900 Games in Paris, the rigid wooden handle had been replaced by a steel wire with a triangular grip. Into this circle stepped the Irish Whales.

Most of the Whales were Irish immigrants working with the New York police. "The Father" of them all was John Flanagan. Born in Limerick, he represented the US at the 1900 Games and destroyed the hammer competition to win his first of three successive gold medals. Flanagan's third gold, in London in 1908, was notable in that two other Irish-born throwers took silver and bronze - Matt McGrath (US) and Con Walsh (Canada). London also saw Mayo-born Whale Martin Sheridan retain gold in the discus (he held the world record for 10 years). By his untimely death in 1918, he had won five gold, three silver and one bronze in various events.

Another Whale, James Mitchell of Tipperary, was an equally popular American thrower and favourite for the stone throw in 1906 in Athens - the only time the event was held at the Games. Unfortunately, his ship was hit by a freak wave crossing the Atlantic and, after dislocating his shoulder, Mitchell had to withdraw. The New York Police Museum now has a section dedicated to the Irish Whales.

Limerick-born Pat Ryan kept the hammer tradition going by winning gold in 1920, again representing the US, yet by the 1924 Games back in Paris, the rest of the world was catching up. Then aged 45, McGrath still took silver, making him the oldest medallist in the throwing events in Olympic history. But just a few years later, Ireland had found a true successor to the Whales.

The Banteer Games were once the highlight of the GAA's athletic programme and it was here that the young Dr Pat O'Callaghan found his first inspiration

O'Callaghan caught the throwing bug and, with his technique perfected, travelled to the Amsterdam Games of 1928 in search of gold. His fifth throw of 51.39 metres astonished the competition and the Irish Free State had its first Olympic medal.

Exactly four years to the day, O'Callaghan dramatically regained his title in Los Angeles (pictured right). Troubled by the hard surface of the circle, he filed the spikes on his shoes from the start of the competition. Finally satisfied, he took gold with his final throw of 53.92 metres. Since then, Irish throwers have tried hard to reproduce those glory days. In 1960 in Rome, John Lawlor was among the contenders, but his bus was stuck in traffic on the way to the stadium and, with only five minutes to warm-up, he eventually finished fourth. Then there was Declan Hegerty in 1984. In the run-in to the Games, he had thrown one of the best distances in the world but found it impossible to reproduce his form in Los Angeles. He first two throws hit the cage with such a wallop that the whole stadium fell silent. Only one throw eventually got outside the cage, but it was well short of the qualifying mark.