Denis Horgan

Denis Horgan (18 May 1871 – 2 June 1922) was a champion Irish athlete and weight thrower, born in Banteer, County Cork, who competed mainly in the shot put.^[1]

Denis Horgan

Horgan depicted on an Ogden's cigarette card, 1902
Personal information
Born	18 May 1871 Banteer, County Cork
Died	2 June 1922 (aged 51) Crookstown, Cork
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event	Shot put
Medal record Representing  Great Britain Men's athletics 1908 London Shot put

Biography

Shortly after setting a world record of 48 feet 2 inches with the 16 pound shot at Queenstown,^{[citation needed]} in County Cork, Ireland in 1897, Horgan visited the U.S., and in 1900, he joined the Greater New York Irish Athletic Association, the predecessor of the Irish American Athletic Club for a brief period.^[2] In 1905, he joined the rival New York Athletic Club.^{[citation needed]}

In 1906, Horgan set the world's record for the 28 pound shot, with a distance of 35 feet, 4.5 inches at the Ancient Order of Hibernians games held at Celtic Park in Queens, New York.^[3]

He competed for Great Britain at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London in the shot put,^[4][5] where he won the silver medal.^[1]

Horgan won 13 British AAA Championships titles from 1893 to 1912.^[6] The win at the 1893 AAA Championships was the first of seven consecutive shot put titles.^[7][8][9]

Horgan won a total 42 shot put titles during his athletic career, including 28 Irish championships,^{[citation needed]} and one American championship.^{[citation needed]} Horgan was "usually so superior to his fellow competitors that he seldom trained in any sort of systematic way, yet he showed a marked consistency of performance, in all conditions, over a period of twenty years."^[10]

He emigrated to America, where he worked as a police officer.^{[citation needed]} Whilst attempting to rescue a fellow Irishman, he was severely stabbed and left for dead.^{[citation needed]} After he recovered, he returned to Ireland, married, and settled in Crookstown.^[11]