Patrick Flynn (athlete)

Olympic medal record
Men's athletics
Representing the  United States
	1920 Antwerp	3000 m steeplechase

Patrick (a.k.a. Pat, Patsy, Paddy) J. Flynn was an accomplished Irish American athlete, an Olympic Silver medalist and a war veteran.

Patrick J. Flynn was born on 17 December 1894 in County Cork, Ireland. He was the eldest child of farmers Patrick and Ellen Flynn and had three brothers and one sister. According to the 1901 census the Flynn family were living in Knocknagappue but they had moved to Cloghane in Kildara, Ballinadee by 1911.

In his early years Patsy showed enormous talent under the tutelage of another local athlete Bob Hales and began competing in athletics in 1912. The following year was an eventful one for 19 year old Patsy. In May that year he became an Irish champion after winning the Irish Four Mile Championship and represented Ireland in an international championship against Scotland in July. His success in the Four Mile category assisted Ireland to secure the championship title that year. [[File:Patsy J Flynn on vacation with his wife florence.jpg|thumb|Patsy Flynn on vacation with his wife Florence]]

In the autumn of 1913 Patsy emigrated to America from Queenstown (Cobh) in Cork like so many before him. In his new home in New York City he soon found work as a shipping clerk and unsurprisingly began competing in athletics there. In 1916 he joined the Paulist Athletic Club, which is a member of the Irish American Athletic Club. It was during this time that he came up against Olympic Champion Hans Kolehmainen in the 5,000 metres where he was beaten by less than a yard. This race, despite Patsy’s defeat, is noteworthy as the winning time was to set a new world record of 14:33:6.

During the next two years Patsy raced for the Irish American A.C against the best in America and was unbeaten. Only for the intervention of World War One Patsy would have certainly been selected to represent the USA in the 1916 Olympic Games, which were due to have taken place in Berlin.

Following the outbreak of the war, Patsy shelved his dreams of an Olympic medal and enlisted in the 165th Infantry Regiment in the spring of 1916 where he would become a Sergeant. In July 1918 whilst fighting the Germans in France he was shot in his left arm during an act of heroism:

“while Ryan had to lie in a depression and try to keep up the spirits of his followers by calling to them. When his voice failed him, Paddy Flynn, a clean-cut young Irish athlete, came and lay alongside him and coached the team like a captain on the base lines. As he raised his head to call he was hit on the cheek, but he kept on urging resistance until he was finally wounded severely.”- Fr. Francis Duffy’s Diary

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