No.6 ALL-TIME is the FIRST EVER official Long Jump World Record Holder!!!🙌 🇮🇪👇
PETER O’CONNOR is justifiably a sporting legend in Ireland – the first and only Irish World Record Holder in the Long Jump; he soared out to 7.61m in 1901 and this historic mark lasted unbeaten for 20 years [was also the Irish Record for c.90 years]!!!✨
O’CONNOR had a fabled rivalry with American Long Jump legend Meyer Prinstein [HBM ranked no.8 All-Time] from afar, but the two finally met at the 1906 Intercalated Olympic Games [*IG] in Athens…controversy followed as O’CONNOR was originally entered to represent Ireland [he had consistently refused approaches to represent Great Britain], and yet a late change to the rules meant only those athletes nominated by National Olympic Committees were eligible; Ireland didn’t have an Olympic Committee, so the British Olympic Committee claimed all three registered Irish athletes!!! In the event itself, O’CONNOR was bettered by Prinstein on the day, and in receiving his Silver medal he then staged a protest at the medal ceremony by scaling the flag pole and waving the Irish Flag in place of the Union Flag to make his allegiance clear!!!🇮🇪
