Joseph Lynch (athlete)

Joseph Lynch
Personal information
Born(1878-04-22)22 April 1878
Sydney, Australia
Died10 March 1952(1952-03-10) (aged 73)
Sydney, Australia
Sport
Country Australia
SportTrack and field

Joseph Michael Lynch (22 April 1878 – 10 March 1952) was an Australian long-distance runner. Lynch was born in 1878 in Darlington, Sydney. He was the youngest son of Irish immigrants John Lynch and Mary Hassett.[1]

Career

He trained with the East Sydney Athletics Club and competed in club, state, and national events; his best national performance was coming third in the one-mile race in the 1909–10 season.[2] He competed for Australasia in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. [3] This team also included Australian legends such as Snowy Baker.

At the 1908 Summer Olympics, Lynch competed in three events, in the 1500 metres event, he finished fifth in his heat and only the winners of the heats qualified for the final,[4] he also competed in the Marathon race and the 5 miles competition but didn't finish either race, he retired from the Marathon after five miles,[5][6] he was due to participate in the 800 metres but in the end he didn't compete in it.[7]

Military career

He enlisted in the AIF Expeditionary Force on 4 January 1915.[8] He served at Gallipoli, Flanders and the Somme. He was wounded at the Somme on 22 July 1916 and evacuated to Britain. In November 1916, he returned to Australia and, in March 1917, was discharged. He never really returned to athletics and carried on living a simple life in Sydney, Australia.[9]

Lynch was also an actor, which saw him perform in Australia, the United States, and London.[9]

He died in a traffic accident in Sydney, Australia.[10]

References

  1. ^ "Joseph Lynch". Olympedia. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  2. ^ "Joseph Lynch (NSW)". athhistory.sportstg.com. Australian Athletics Historical Results. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  3. ^ "ATHLETICS". The Arrow (Sydney, NSW : 1896 - 1912). Sydney, NSW: National Library of Australia. 17 April 1909. p. 5. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  4. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Athletics at the 1908 London Summer Games: Men's 1,500 metres Round One". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  5. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Athletics at the 1908 London Summer Games: Men's 5 mile Round One". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  6. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Athletics at the 1908 London Summer Games: Men's Marathon". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  7. ^ "Australia at the games". athhistory.sportstg.com. Australian Athletics Historical Results. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  8. ^ "Joseph Michael Lynch enlistment record". UNSW - AIF Project. Archived from the original on 19 March 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  9. ^ a b "The Greater Game". athletics.com.au. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  10. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Joseph Lynch". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 30 May 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.

Sources

  • Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
  • De Wael, Herman (2001). "Athletics 1908". Herman's Full Olympians. Archived from the original on 27 September 2006. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
  • Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 30 July 2006.