IWKnights Corner For August 8, 2021
– 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Did you know this about the IW Knights of Columbus?

“One of the most distinguished — and improbable — victories in Olympic history occurred 125 years ago, when James B. Connolly won the first event of the 1896 Olympic Games.  A feisty and energetic 27-year-old son of poor Irish immigrants from South Boston, Connolly became the first Olympic champion in more than 1,500 years.”  He joined the Knights of Columbus shortly after he returned from the games.

“Abolished in 393 A.D. by Emperor Theodosius I, the Olympic Games lay dormant until their 1896 revival by Pierre de Coubertin, a French nobleman.  As Europeans were expected to dominate all the events, the United States fielded only a dozen athletes, mainly Harvard and Princeton men.  To qualify, all the Americans had to do was to fill-out an entry form and pay their way across the ocean.”

Due to lack of space we have listed hereinafter some facts about James Connolly’s thrilling life:

• • • One of 12 children and the sixth of 10 sons, Connolly was born in October of 1868. His father was a fisherman, while his mother raised the children and translated Gaelic poetry.
    • Although not completing high school he took Harvard’s entrance exam and entered in 1895.
    • He first worked at a Boston insurance company then moved to Georgia to join the Army.
    • Stationed in Savannah with the Army Corps of Engineers he found time to establish a Catholic sports club, write a weekly sports column and establish a bicycling business.
    • Connolly was the American record holder in the triple jump when he joined the ’96 team.

“I was a freshman at Harvard,” Connolly later recounted, “when I saw in the papers that the Olympics were to be revived.  Right away, I wanted to go.  I was National A.A.U. hop, step and jump champion, and I asked Harvard if I could represent them at the Games.  They said if I left I’d have to resign and might not get back in school when I returned.  So I quit.”

• • • To reach Athens, his Catholic parish raised the funds for him to sail across the Atlantic.
    • He trained on the deck of the steamer U.S.S. Fulda on his way to the Olympics
    • 80,000 spectators filled the stadium to watch the restart of the game’s and its first event
    • There were no trials; three jumps would determine the winner. On his final turn, Connolly leaped 45 feet before the astonished crowd (to win by one meter).

Connolly was then crowned with an olive wreath and received a silver medal. (In the 1896 Olympics, only the top two received medals; silver for first and bronze for second.).  He went on to take second place in the high jump and third place in the long jump."

Find the link to this featured story along with information on the Knights of Columbus at IWKnights9981.com/bulletin or on facebook.com/IWknights9981 and NOW on Twitter at twitter.com/IwKnights.

Links Related to this week’s column:

The First Olympic Champion
	Athlete, author and Knight of Columbus James B. Connolly was the first to win in the modern Olympic games.
		By Andrew J. Matt, Knights of Columbus' Knightline (7/23/2021)
			Click here for Article

Prayer for Protection in Time of Pandemic
	A Novena which seeks Our Lady’s Intercession for Protection in Time of Pandemic
		By His Holiness, Pope Francis (3/2020)
		A PRAYER FOR PROTECTION IN TIME OF PANDEMIC (PDF Version)
				Click here for the Prayer