August 1, 1931 Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
Died
August 18, 2010 (aged 79) Catonsville, Maryland, United States
Height
1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight
106 kg (234 lb)
Spouse(s)
Olga Fikotová (1957-1975) Pat Daniels (1976-2010)
Sport
Country
United States
Sport
Athletics
Event(s)
Hammer throw, shot put
Club
Southern California Striders, Anaheim
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)
HT – 71.26 m (1965) SP – 14.72 m (1951)
Medal record
Representing the United States
Olympic Games
1956 Melbourne
Hammer throw
Harold Vincent "Hal" Connolly (August 1, 1931 – August 18, 2010) was an American athlete and hammer thrower from Somerville, Massachusetts. He won a gold medal in the hammer throw at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.[1] Connolly became the first American to throw hammer more than 200 feet.[2] He set his first of six world records just prior to the 1956 Olympics, and held the world record for nearly 10 years.
After his gold medal, Connolly competed in three more Olympics, finishing eighth in 1960, sixth in 1964 and not qualifying for the final in 1968.[1] In 1972, he finished fifth in the United States trials and failed to make the team.[3]
Connolly sustained severe nerve damage to his left arm during birth, prohibiting the limb from ever developing properly. He fractured it 13 times as a child. His left arm grew to be four and a half inches shorter than his right and his left hand two-thirds the size of his right.[3]The New York Times noted, "When he won his Olympic gold medal, photographers yelled at him to raise his arms in triumph. He lifted only his right arm."[3]
Connolly received his undergraduate degree from Boston College in 1952 and attended graduate school at UCLA. Both during and after his athletic career, Connolly worked as a teacher in the Santa Monica school system. In 1988, he then retired and accepted a position as an executive director of Special Olympics, where he would serve for the next 11 years. Until his death, he coached youth athletes and served as the Junior Hammer Development Chairmen for US Track and Field Association. He was one of the leading promoters for the next generation of hammer throwers.
^ abEvans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Hal Connolly". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020.
^Cite error: The named reference hall was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abcLitsky, Frank (August 19, 2010). "Harold Connolly, Who Beat Odds in Olympics and Romance, Dies at 79". The New York Times.
Harold Vincent "Hal" Connolly (August 1, 1931 – August 18, 2010) was an American athlete and hammer thrower from Somerville, Massachusetts. He won a gold...
athletes Ken Bantum Greg Bell John Bennett Milt Campbell Phil Conley HalConnolly Ira Davis Charles Dumas Benjamin Garcia Fortune Gordien Bob Gutowski...
in the World. She was married to American hammer thrower and Olympian HalConnolly until his death in 2010. In 2010, she was inducted into the African-American...
athletes Ken Bantum Greg Bell John Bennett Milt Campbell Phil Conley HalConnolly Ira Davis Charles Dumas Benjamin Garcia Fortune Gordien Bob Gutowski...
athletes Ken Bantum Greg Bell John Bennett Milt Campbell Phil Conley HalConnolly Ira Davis Charles Dumas Benjamin Garcia Fortune Gordien Bob Gutowski...
In a much publicized Olympic romance, American hammer throw champion HalConnolly would marry Czechoslovak discus throw champion, Olga Fikotová. After...
Zinn Vic Zwolak Men's field athletes Ralph Boston Ed Burke Ed Caruthers HalConnolly Frank Covelli Ira Davis Dick Emberger Kent Floerke Al Hall Fred Hansen...
Parker, other members of Arts for Art's Board of Directors include: HalConnolly, Patricia Ali, Jo Wood Brown, Whit Dickey, Judy Gage, Patricia Nicholson...
Terry Beucher Ralph Boston Don Bragg Al Cantello Dave Clark Dick Cochran HalConnolly Ira Davis Charles Dumas Dave Edstrom Joe Faust Al Hall Rafer Johnson...
Boston Reynaldo Brown Ed Burke Gary Carlsen Casey Carrigan Ed Caruthers HalConnolly Frank Covelli Dick Fosbury Albert Hall Dave Maggard Randy Matson Charles...
Boston Reynaldo Brown Ed Burke Gary Carlsen Casey Carrigan Ed Caruthers HalConnolly Frank Covelli Dick Fosbury Albert Hall Dave Maggard Randy Matson Charles...
Boston Reynaldo Brown Ed Burke Gary Carlsen Casey Carrigan Ed Caruthers HalConnolly Frank Covelli Dick Fosbury Albert Hall Dave Maggard Randy Matson Charles...
Boston Reynaldo Brown Ed Burke Gary Carlsen Casey Carrigan Ed Caruthers HalConnolly Frank Covelli Dick Fosbury Albert Hall Dave Maggard Randy Matson Charles...
Zinn Vic Zwolak Men's field athletes Ralph Boston Ed Burke Ed Caruthers HalConnolly Frank Covelli Ira Davis Dick Emberger Kent Floerke Al Hall Fred Hansen...
Terry Beucher Ralph Boston Don Bragg Al Cantello Dave Clark Dick Cochran HalConnolly Ira Davis Charles Dumas Dave Edstrom Joe Faust Al Hall Rafer Johnson...
Boston Reynaldo Brown Ed Burke Gary Carlsen Casey Carrigan Ed Caruthers HalConnolly Frank Covelli Dick Fosbury Albert Hall Dave Maggard Randy Matson Charles...
between Czech Discus thrower Olga Fikotova and American Hammer thrower HalConnolly during the 1956 Summer Olympic Games. The 1980 Summer Olympics were held...
athletes Ken Bantum Greg Bell John Bennett Milt Campbell Phil Conley HalConnolly Ira Davis Charles Dumas Benjamin Garcia Fortune Gordien Bob Gutowski...
two years later by HalConnolly, the 1956 Olympic champion. Asplund's record was more than a metre and a half further than Connolly threw in the Olympics...
Hungary Karl Storch Germany Imre Németh Hungary 1956 Melbourne details HalConnolly United States Mikhail Krivonosov Soviet Union Anatoliy Samotsvetov...