John Lawlor (athlete)
Irish athlete
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Francis Lawlor (14 March 1934 – 20 May 2018) was an Irish athlete in track and field who competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | Irish | |||||||||||
| Born | 14 March 1934 Dublin, Ireland | |||||||||||
| Died | 20 May 2018 (aged 84) Milton, Massachusetts, United States | |||||||||||
| Height | 188 cm (6 ft 2 in) | |||||||||||
| Weight | 93 kg (205 lb) | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||
Event | Hammer throw | |||||||||||
| Club | Civil Service AC Boston University Terriers | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||
Biography
Lawlor attended St. Joseph's Secondary C.B.S. in Fairview, Dublin and played rugby and Gaelic football as a youth. he joined the Garda Síochána in 1953 and took up hammer throwing. As a member of the Civil Service AC he won the 1953 Irish title, while continuing to play rugby for the Irish Wolfhounds.[1]
Lawlor accepted a track and field scholarship at Boston University where he would study geology. While a student at Boston University, he won the NCAA Championships in the hammer throw in 1959 and 1960, setting meet records both times (207-5/63.22 in 1959 and 209-2/63.76 in 1960).[1]
Lawlor finished third behind Mike Ellis (athlete) in the hammer throw event at the 1958 AAA Championships[2] and competed in the 1960 Olympics in Rome, finishing fourth in the men's hammer throw in 1960 with a throw of 64.95 metres (213.1 ft).[1]
Lawlor won the British AAA Championships title at the 1961 AAA Championships.[3][4][5]
Lawlor returned to Ireland in 1963 to work as a geologist at Silvermines and the following year in 1964 at his second Olympics in Tokyo, he finished 23rd in the qualifying round. In 1970, he returned to Boston to gain a Ph.D. in geology and would reside in Milton, Massachusetts thereafter.[1]
