Ahearn, Daniel F.

Track and field

b. April 2, 1888, County Limerick, Ireland
d. Jan. 10, 1949

Ahearn was the only American to hold the world record in the triple jump--known as the hop, step and jump in his era--until Willie Banks came along in 1985. Ahearn set the record at 50 feet, 11 inches on May 5, 1911 during the AAU national championships. He broke a record set by his older brother Timothy, who had competed for Ireland in the 1908 Olympics.

The younger Ahearn was AAU national champion in the event seven times, in 1910 and 1911 and from 1913 through 1918.

In 1920, Ahearn led a revolt of American athletes at the Antwerp Olympics. They had crossed the Atlantic on a crowded ship and were being quartered in an abandoned schoolhouse. Ahearn found a better room in an inn. When he didn't show up at the official barracks, he was suspended for insubordination.

Ahearn gave an angry speech, stirring up the U. S. team, and a petition was presented demanding better living conditions and Ahearn's reinstatement was presented to team officials. The threat was a boycott. Judge Barrow S. Weeks, chairman of the American Olympic Committee, responded by saying, "You must carry on. The committee must carry on. What would you do if the committee quit?"

The athletes had an answer for that: "Get a better one!"

The upshot was that Ahearn was reinstated. However, living conditions didn't change, and none of the athletes refused to compete.