Johnny Hayes
Johnny Hayes in 1908
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| Personal information | ||||||||||
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| Born | April 10, 1886 New York City, United States |
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| Died | August 25, 1965 (aged 79) Englewood, New Jersey, United States |
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| Height | 1.62 m (5 ft 4 in) | |||||||||
| Weight | 55 kg (121 lb) | |||||||||
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| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||
| Event(s) | Marathon, 800 m | |||||||||
| Club | I-AAC, Queens | |||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | Marathon – 2:26:04 (1908) 800 m – 1:53.8 (1912) |
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Medal record
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John Joseph "Johnny" Hayes (April 10, 1886 – August 25, 1965) was an American athlete, a member of the Irish American Athletic Club, and winner of the marathon race at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Hayes' Olympic victory contributed to the early growth of long-distance running and marathoning in the United States. He was also the first man to win a marathon at the now official standard distance of 26 miles 385 yards when Olympic officials lengthened the distance to put the finish line in front of the King of England's box. (The 1896 and 1904 Olympic marathons had been less than 25 miles long.)
Born in New York City to a family of Irish emigrants (from Nenagh in Co. Tipperary), Johnny Hayes is probably best known for winning the controversial marathon race at the London Olympics. Hayes is one of only three male American athletes to win the Olympic Marathon, (the other two being Thomas Hicks in 1904 and Frank Shorter in 1972).
In 1905 he had joined Bloomingdale Brothers as an assistant to the manager of the sporting goods department. At night he trained on a cinder track on the roof of the Bloomingdales building in New York. He was promoted to manager of the department after returning from his Olympic victory.
Hayes started his athletics career with a fifth-place finish at the 1906 Boston Marathon, running for the St. Bartholemew Athletic Club in a time of 2:55:38. He improved on that the following year by finishing third in Boston with a time of 2:30:38 and winning the inaugural Yonkers Marathon. In 1908 he finished second, 21 seconds behind Thomas Morrissey in the Boston Marathon with a time of 2:26:34 and thus qualified for the Olympic Games held in London that same year.
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