"Beautiful Creatures"

[DoubleRBar]

Happy birthday today (Monday) to an Olympic champion who did not win that Olympic gold medal in the hurdles.

Our birthday champion competed in two Olympic Games, both of which were held in Europe.

This athlete was not born in South America, Australia, or Africa.

A fairly famous actor shares the same last name with our birthday athlete and this fairly famous actor was born about six years after our birthday person died.

You may not know that our birthday individual died about 333 miles (535 km) from the place where this champion was born.

I can tell you that our birthday athlete was born 134 years ago today and died at the age of 56.

"The French Lieutenant's Woman" may give you an idea as to the name of our birthday person.

It is true that this athlete competed in more than one Olympic event.

Are you familiar with "The Man in the Iron Mask"?

Some of you are probably familiar with this mystery champion.

Please name this athlete.

[midwestfan]

DoubleRBar: I know the answer without looking it up. It will be hard to believe, but I am writing a biography of a teammate of this athlete who competed in one of the OG that the mystery athlete competed in and also my athlete's bio was in the same event as the Birthday athlete, but did not place in the finals. In my bio research last night I wrote about the first, second and third place finishers in the OG that this mystery athlete and my biography athlete both participated in but the BD athlete won his the gold medal at.
I will leave it to the experts to answer the quiz. It would not be fare because I did look it up but a day ago by coincidence when I was writing my biography of an athlete who had some significant history in which I was interested in and preparing for my friends.
Good luck to the others.

[LopenUupunut]

Frank Irons

[bambam1729]

DoubleRBar: I know the answer without looking it up. It will be hard to believe, but I am writing a biography of a teammate of this athlete who competed in one of the OG that the mystery athlete competed in and also my athlete's bio was in the same event as the Birthday athlete, but did not place in the finals. In my bio research last night I wrote about the first, second and third place finishers in the OG that this mystery athlete and my biography athlete both participated in but the BD athlete won his the gold medal at.
I will leave it to the experts to answer the quiz. It would not be fare because I did look it up but a day ago by coincidence when I was writing my biography of an athlete who had some significant history in which I was interested in and preparing for my friends.
Good luck to the others.

Who are you doing a bio on? Dan Kelly? Cal Bricker?

[DoubleRBar]

Very good, LopenUupunut. It is Frank Irons who won the 1908 long jump in London. Irons was born in Des Moines, Iowa the same year the Statue of Liberty was dedicated by President Grover Cleveland. Irons also competed in Stockholm in 1912, but did not medal there. Nice work, LopenUupunut.

[midwestfan]

Who are you doing a bio on? Dan Kelly? Cal Bricker?

John Francis O'Connell

[bambam1729]

John Francis O'Connell

Interesting. We have him as James Francis V. O'Connell - I take it that is wrong?

[bambam1729]

Why O'Connell?

[midwestfan]

Interesting. We have him as James Francis V. O'Connell - I take it that is wrong?

I did not find any reference to a V. in his name, not from his family tree or from the athletic events that were published in the print. I feel it is in error but somewhere it may have been inserted as a reference to his matriculation status from college days.

I was preparing a biography of O'Connell, because he was/is the first Olympian that his college had in their long list of later Olympians. Being "shut-in" for weeks the one page bio report became more and more interesting and fascinating and it keeps expanding to 10 pages now and I am still not at the 1908 Olympic Games yet. O'Connell mad his name early after high school in the National Guard where he excelled as a broad jumper and a multi-event athlete (BJ, 40-60 yard printer, HJ, SP, and 220 LH). He won several trophies/awards for most individual points earned in the state's National Guard annual athletic competitions for three years. He was pretty old when he went to college (23 years of age). He left college after one year and joined the NYAC (perhaps from Coach Mike Murphy's advice) and was National AAU Champion. At 1908 Olympics he became a "reporter" for his local hometown newspaper giving a daily column on the inside stories of the OG while he was in London. He finished his life as a policeman in his hometown and had many articles about his tough action and arrests on drunkards who slept on the streets. He died just 21 days after Frank Irons.

[user4]

Frank Irons

Competing with LopenUupunut and midwestfan on some of these is a little bit like chasing a deer through the woods. As soon as you start it's over.