George Bonhag
Bonhag winning the 1500 m walk at the 1906 Intercalated Games | |||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | George Valentine Bonhag | ||||||||||||||||||||
Born | January 31, 1882 Boston, Massachusetts, United States | ||||||||||||||||||||
Died | October 30, 1960 (aged 78) Bronx, New York City, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 132 lb (60 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||
Event | 1-6 miles | ||||||||||||||||||||
Club | Irish-American Athletic Club | ||||||||||||||||||||
Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||
Personal best(s) | Mile – 4:22.4i (1910) 2 miles – 9:20.8i (1911) 5000 m – 15:05.8i (1912) 6 miles – 30:42.0i (1909)[1][2] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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George Valentine Bonhag (January 31, 1882 – October 30, 1960) was an American athlete and a member of the Irish American Athletic Club and the New York City Police Department. He competed in distance events, both racewalking and running, at the 1904, 1908 and 1912 Olympics and at the 1906 Intercalated Games.[3]
An announcement in the August 6, 1904, issue of The New York Times indicated that the Metropolitan Association of the Amateur Athletic Union would hold a "special five-mile race" at Celtic Park on August 13, 1904, with the eight top finishers receiving a paid trip to compete in the marathon at the Olympic Games in St. Louis on August 30, 1904.[4] Bonhag, listed as representing the Greater New York Irish Athletic Association, was named as one of 19 "probable competitors" in the event.[4]
At the 1904 Summer Olympics he competed in 800 m running but his result is unknown. At the 1906 Intercalated Games he placed fourth over 5 miles and sixth over 1500 m. Disappointed and highly motivated to make up for his loss, he entered the 1500 m walk and won the gold medal. This was the only time he competed in this event, and the first walking race at Olympics. The rules were not clearly set, and many of the nine competitors, including Bonhag, were "skipping" (i.e. changing to half-running). The first two finishers, Robert Wilkinson and Eugen Spiegler were disqualified for skipping. Two of four judges voted to disqualify Bonhag too, but he was defended by James Sullivan, chief judge of the event, and Prince George, who was president of the jury. A re-walk was set up between Bonhag and Don Linden, who finished fourth. Bonhag did not show up at the re-walk, and for uncertain reasons the jury did not change the race results and gave the gold medal to Bonhag and silver to Linden.[5]
Two years later Bonhag was part of the American 3 mile team that won the silver medal. Bonhag also participated in the 3200 m steeplechase event, but was eliminated in the first round. In his fourth Olympics in 1912 he won a team gold medal in the 3000 m race and placed fourth over 5000 m. He also participated in the individual cross country contest. As he was one of three Americans who did not finish the race, his team was unplaced.[1]
Bonhag also competed in the exhibition baseball tournament at the 1912 Olympics.[1]
References
- ^ a b c George Bonhag Archived December 29, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. sports-reference.com
- ^ George Bonhag. trackfield.brinkster.net
- ^ "George Bonhag". Olympedia. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
- ^ a b "Will Run for St. Louis Trip – Eight Best Men in Race to Go to World's Fair for Big Event". The New York Times. August 6, 1904. p. 3. Retrieved September 3, 2017.
- ^ Athletics at the 1906 Athina Summer Games: Men's 1,500 metres Walk Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. sports-reference.com
Further reading
- Cook, Theodore Andrea (May 1909). The Fourth Olympiad London 1908 Official Report (PDF). London: British Olympic Association. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
- De Wael, Herman (2001). "Athletics 1908". Herman's Full Olympians. Archived from the original on 2006-09-27. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
- Greenberg, Stan (1989). Olympic Games: The Records. London: Guinness Books. ISBN 0-85112-896-3.
External links
- George Bonhag at Olympics.com
- George Bonhag at Olympedia
- Irish America Archives - NYU
- Winged Fist Organization
Olympic Games | ||
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Preceded by | Flagbearer for United States Stockholm 1912 | Succeeded by Pat McDonald |
- v
- t
- e
New York Athletic Club
- 1876–79: Not held
NAAAA
- 1880: James Gifford
- 1881: W. C. Davies
- 1882–83: Tom Delaney
- 1884: Geo. Stonebridge
- 1885: Peter Skillman
- 1886–87: Edward Carter
- 1888Note 1: Thomas Conneff
Amateur Athletic Union
- 1888–91Note 1: Thomas Conneff
- 1892–93: William Day
- 1894: Charles Bean
- 1899: Alex Grant
- 1900: Arthur Newton
- 1901: Frank Kanahy
- 1902: Alex Grant
- 1903: Not held
- 1904: John Joyce
- 1905: Frank Verner
- 1906: Wm. Nelson
- 1907: John Daly
- 1908: Fred Bellars
- 1909: Harry McLean
- 1910: William Kramer
- 1911: George Bonhag
- 1912: Hannes Kolehmainen (FIN) * Harry Smith
- 1913: Hannes Kolehmainen (FIN) * Joie Ray
- 1914: Ville Kyrönen (FIN) * H. E. Weeks
- 1915: Hannes Kolehmainen (FIN) * Oliver Millard
- 1916: Joie Ray
- 1917–19: Charles Pores
- 1920OT: Not held
- 1921–23: Earle Johnson
- 1924: Ilmar Prim
- 1925: George Lermond
- 1926: Phillip Osif
- 1927: Willie Ritola (FIN) * Russell Payne
- 1928OT: Joie Ray
- 1929-31: Lou Gregory
- 1932OT: Tom Ottey
- 1933: Lou Gregory
- 1934: Eino Pentti
- 1935: Tom Ottey
- 1936: Don Lash
- 1937–38: Eino Pentti
- 1939: Lou Gregory
- 1940: Don Lash
- 1941: Lou Gregory
- 1942: Joe McCluskey
- 1943: Lou Gregory
- 1944: Norm Bright
- 1945: Ted Vogel
- 1946–48: Edward O'Toole
- 1949: Fred Wilt
- 1950: Horace Ashenfelter
- 1951–54: Curt Stone
- 1955: Dick Hart
- 1956: Max Truex
- 1957: Doug Kyle
- 1958: John Macy
- 1959:
- 1960: Al Lawrence (AUS) * Max Truex
- 1961: John Gutknecht
- 1962: Bruce Kidd (CAN) * Peter McArdle
- 1963–64: Peter McArdle
- 1965: Billy Mills
- 1966: Tracy Smith
- 1967: Van Nelson
- 1968: Tracy Smith
- 1969–70: Jack Bacheler
- 1971: Frank Shorter
- 1972: Greg Fredericks
- 1973: Gordon Minty (GBR) * Ted Castaneda
- 1974–75: Frank Shorter
- 1976: Ed Leddy
- 1977: Frank Shorter
- 1978–79: Craig Virgin
- 1980: Rodolfo Gómez
- Garry Bjorklund
The Athletics Congress
- 1981: Alberto Salazar
- 1982: Craig Virgin
- 1983: Alberto Salazar
- 1984: Jon Sinclair
- 1985: Bruce Bickford
- 1986–87: Gerard Donakowski
- 1988: Steve Taylor
- 1989: Pat Porter
- 1990: Steve Plasencia
- 1991: Shannon Butler
- 1992OT: Todd Williams
USA Track & Field
- 1993: Todd Williams
- 1994: Tom Ansberry
- 1995–96: Todd Williams
- 1997: Michael Mykytok
- 1998: Dan Browne
- 1999: Alan Culpepper
- 2000OT: Meb Keflezighi
- 2001: Abdi Abdirahman
- 2002: Meb Keflezighi
- 2003: Alan Culpepper
- 2004: Meb Keflezighi
- 2005: Abdi Abdirahman
- 2006: Jorge Torres
- 2007–08: Abdi Abdirahman
- 2009–16: Galen Rupp
- 2017: Hassan Mead
- 2018–19: Lopez Lomong
- 20212020 OT: Woody Kincaid
- 2022: Galen Rupp
- 2023: Woody Kincaid
- Note 1: In 1888 both the NAAAA and the AAU held championships
- OT: The 1920, 1928, 1932, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event.
- 2020 OT: The 2020 Olympic Trials were delayed and held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Distance: Until 1924 the event was 5 miles; from 1925–27 and from 1929–31 it was over 6 miles.