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Modern Olympian Ode #17: Run It Up the Flagpole and See What Happens (1906)

Michael Ceraolo

These games, held at Athens,
were given the title of Intercalated Games
because they were to take place midway between
the Games that rotated among other cities
(some then refused to call these Olympics,
and some today refuse to recognize them as such)
And despite the brave front displayed
in scheduling additional Games,
they were practically a last gasp
to rehabilitate the image
after the fiascoes of 1900 and 1904,
where the Games were buried
in months-long World’s Fairs

It is always dangerous
to commemorate something as a first,
and that applies to Olympic protest also;
those who covered the earlier Games
could have missed a subtle protest
And the decision of some ethnic ’exhibits’
not to take part in the egregious Anthropology Days
in St. Louis in 1904
could also be considered a form of protest
But the first protester known by name
was an Irishman named Peter O’Connor

O’Connor was the world-record holder in the long jump,
but he and two other Irishmen were greatly dismayed
(to say the least)
at having to represent Great Britain,
as it then ruled Ireland,
instead of their homeland
And they made no secret of their feelings,
so
it wasn’t a surprise when Britain answered back:
a British official who was one of the two men
assigned to judge the long-jump competition
mysteriously backed out of judging at the last minute,
leaving as the only official Matthew Halpin,
who was also the manager of the American team
and as such fully prepared to do the dirty work
for his own selfish reasons
First,
he changed the jumping order,
allowing the best American jumper
to jump way out of turn;
then,
he didn’t measure O’Connor’s best jump,
claiming that O’Connor had fouled
(witnesses disputed the foul and also said
O’Connor’s jump was the best of the day)
And he did measure the American’s best jump
And there was no appeal of any of his decisions
The American took gold, O’Connor took silver

Then came the flag-raising ceremony for the medalists
O’Connor, with a fellow Irishman standing guard,
dexterously climbed the twenty-foot pole
and replaced the Union Jack with a green flag
that proclaimed Erin Go Bragh
The Greek king, a relative of the English king,
was not amused, nor were the Olympic officials
But unlike officials of later Games,
they did not ban O’Connor from further competition
And O’Connor subsequently won a gold medal
in the hop, step, and jump (today called the triple jump)

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