1956 Olympic Gold Medalist - Hal Connolly
Hal Connolly spent most of his life dedicated to the hammer throw. For most, being an Olympic Champion, and breaking the world record 6 times would be enough of a legacy to leave behind, but not for Hal. He has continued to build the event from the grass roots, successfully getting the youth hammer throw added to all USATF events, and mentoring the nearly all of the current generation of emerging hammer throwers in one form or another. Hal was a true champion, who will be remembered for his contributions as an athlete, but even more so as a coach and advocate for youth athletics and the hammer throw.
Unfortunately, Hal died suddenly last week, however his goal lives on, of having an American hammer thrower on the podium once again at the Olympic Games in 2012. Based on the recent success of the next generation of US hammer throwers that will be in their prime for the 2012 Games, that goal looks like it is very possible. Here is a quote from Walter Henning’s blog citing the success of Hal’s work:
“we have had a finalist in every world youth/junior competition since 2005; the US youth record with the 5k went from non-existent to 79m to 81m; the US junior record went from 71m to 77m to 81m; EVERY SINGLE MALE HIGH SCHOOL CLASS RECORD HAS BEEN BROKEN IN THE LAST 8 YEARS!; A world junior record in the 35lb weight throw; a 1-2 sweep at the world junior championships in 2008; a gold medal in the 2010 world junior championships with a championships record.”
Below you can see Hal’s passion for teaching others about the event started many years ago. This is just one of many training sessions he has spent working with hammer throwers of all ages, abilities, and nationalities.
The full obituary article from the New York Times can be found here.
Martin Bingisser has set up an opportunity on Hal’s website hammerthrow.org to share stories of how Hal Connolly has touched your life.
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