Olympics
The famous Boston Athletic Association (BAA) was founded in the late19th century by an unlikely coalition of leading Boston Brahmins and a famous Irish rebel, John Boyle O’Reilly (1844-90). The BAA was created at a time when amateur sports were increasingly popular across the United States. There were many collegiate teams in greater Boston and numerous small associations, but the…
U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo gave an upbeat assessment on the State Department‘s ongoing efforts to strengthen its ability to issue visas to Americans and foreign visitors, in anticipation of a “mega decade” for sports tourism in the United States. As a result of these efforts, “more people are traveling to the…
On Monday, April 6, 1896, James Brendan Connolly of South Boston became the first medalist in the modern Olympic Games when he won the triple jump on the opening day of the Games in Athens, Greece. Connolly won the event – back then it was called the Hop, Skip and Jump – by jumping 44 ‘ 9…
One of Boston’s most notable Olympic champions, Harold Vincent Connolly, has a statue in his honor in Brighton, the neighborhood in which he grew up. The statue captures Connolly’s pinnacle of success, as a gold medalist in the 1956 Olympics in the hammer throw. His rise to stardom, from a frail and partially paralyzed child…
If you saw Harold Connolly as a young boy you might not think he’d stand a chance to become one of the world’s most elite athletes and a legend in Boston sporting annals. But that’s exactly what Connolly became, overcoming an early physical disability, setting dozens of American and World records, and becoming an inspiration…
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