Matthew John McGrath was a member of the Irish American Athletic Club, the New York Athletic Club, and the New York City Police Department. At the time of his death at age 64, he attained the rank of Police Inspector, and during his career received the NYPD's Medal of Valor twice. He competed for the U.S. team in the Olympics in 1908, 1912, 1920 and 1924. In his prime, he was known as "one of the world's greatest weight throwers."
The men's hammer throw was one of six throwing events on the Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme in London. The competition was held on July 14, 1908. 19 throwers from eight nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. The event was won by American John Flanagan, his third consecutive victory in the event. He was the first man to win three medals in the hammer throw and, as of the 2016 Games, the only one to win three gold medals in the event. The silver medal went to fellow American Matt McGrath. Con Walsh of Canada took bronze and became the first athlete not from the United States to win a medal in the event, as the Americans had swept the podium in both 1900 and 1904. The three medalists were all part of the Irish Whales.
The men's shot put was a track and field athletics event held as part of the athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. The competition was held on Wednesday, July 10, 1912. Twenty-two shot putters from 14 nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. The event was won by Pat McDonald of the United States, the nation's fifth consecutive victory in the men's shot put. The American team swept the top three places, the third time in five Games. Ralph Rose took silver, 9 centimetres shy of a third gold medal; he became the first man to win three medals of any color.
The men's hammer throw was a track and field athletics event held as part of the athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourth appearance of the event, which had been won all three previous times by John Flanagan. The competition was held on Sunday, July 14, 1912. Fourteen hammer throwers from four nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. The event was won by Matt McGrath of the United States, the nation's fourth consecutive victory in the event. McGrath was the second man to earn multiple medals in the hammer throw. Duncan Gillis of Canada took silver. Clarence Childs of the United States finished third for bronze.
The men's hammer throw was an event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. The qualifying round and the final both were held on Saturday November 24, 1956. There were 22 competitors from 14 nations. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by American Hal Connolly, the nation's first victory in the event since 1924 and seventh overall. Mikhail Krivonosov (silver) and Anatoli Samotsvetov (bronze) earned the Soviet Union's first medals in the event.
The men's hammer throw was an event at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. There were 37 competitors from 22 nations, with twelve athletes reaching the final. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The eight highest-ranked competitors after three rounds qualified for the final three throws to decide the medals. The qualification mark was set at 76.50 metres. The event was won by Balázs Kiss of Hungary, the nation's first victory in the men's hammer throw since 1968 and fourth overall. Lance Deal earned the United States' first medal in the event since 1956 with his silver. Oleksandr Krykun's bronze gave Ukraine a medal in its debut as an independent nation.
The men's shot put event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Tuesday, August 17, 1920, and on Wednesday, August 18, 1920. Twenty shot putters from ten nations competed. No nation had more than 4 athletes, suggesting the limit had been reduced from the 12 maximum in force in 1908 and 1912. The event was won by Ville Pörhölä of Finland, the first time the men's shot put was won by someone not from the United States. Fellow Finn Elmer Niklander took silver. The Americans, who had won all five previous editions of the shot put, including three medal sweeps, settled for bronze by Harry B. Liversedge.
The men's discus throw event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Saturday, August 21, 1920, and on Sunday, August 22, 1920. 17 discus throwers from eight nations competed. No nation had more than 4 athletes, suggesting the limit had been reduced from the 12 maximum in force in 1908 and 1912. The event was won by Elmer Niklander of Finland, the nation's second consecutive victory in the men's discus throw. Armas Taipale, the winner in 1912, took silver to become the second man to win multiple medals in the event. Gus Pope took bronze, continuing the American streak of podium appearances at all six discus competitions to date.
The men's hammer throw event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Thursday, July 10, 1924. 15 hammer throwers from ten nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation was 4. The event was won by Fred Tootell of the United States, the nation's sixth consecutive victory in the event; the Americans would not win again until 1956. Tootell was the first of the winners to have been born in the United States; the previous winners had all been Irish-American. Fellow American Matt McGrath, the 1908 silver medalist and 1912 champion, took silver once again; he was the second man to earn three medals in the hammer throw. Malcolm Nokes earned Great Britain's first medal in the event with his bronze.
The men's shot put event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Tuesday, July 8, 1924. 28 shot putters from 15 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation was 4. The event was won by Bud Houser of the United States, the nation's sixth victory in the men's shot put. Glenn Hartranft took silver and Ralph Hills took bronze to complete the Americans' fourth medal sweep in the event.
The men's long jump event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Tuesday, July 8, 1924. 34 long jumpers from 21 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation was 4. The event was won by DeHart Hubbard of the United States, the nation's sixth title in the event. Sverre Hansen won Norway's first long jump medal with the bronze.
The men's hammer throw event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1928 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Monday, July 30, 1928. Sixteen hammer throwers from eleven nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation was 4. The event was won by Pat O'Callaghan of Ireland, the first gold medal for the nation at the Olympics since it started competing independently in 1924 and the first time the event was won by a non-American. Ossian Skiöld of Sweden took silver, the nation's second medal in the event after another silver in 1920. The Americans, who had earned a gold medal and at least one other medal in each of the previous six hammer throw competitions, took only a bronze this time, with Edmund Black finishing third.
The men's hammer throw event at the 1932 Olympic Games took place August 1. There were 14 competitors from 9 nations. The 1930 Olympic Congress in Berlin had reduced the limit from 4 athletes per NOC to 3 athletes. The event was won by Pat O'Callaghan of Ireland, repeating as Olympic champion. O'Callaghan was the third man to win multiple hammer throw medals and the second to repeat as gold medalist. His victory also made 7 of the first 8 Olympic hammer throw competitions won by Irish-born athletes; in addition to O'Callaghan's two victories for Ireland, five of the United States' wins were by Irish-American throwers. Ville Pörhölä took silver for Finland's first medal in the event. Peter Zaremba extended the United States' medal streak to eight Games with his bronze.
The men's hammer throw event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1936 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on August 3, 1936. There were 27 competitors from 16 nations. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by Karl Hein of Germany. The silver medal went to Erwin Blask, also of Germany. They were the first medals for Germany in the event; Germany was also the first country other than the United States to have two medalists in the event in the same Games. Fred Warngård of Sweden took bronze. The United States' eight-Games medal streak in the hammer throw was snapped, with the Americans' best result being William Rowe's fifth place.
The men's hammer throw event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1948 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on July 31. There were 24 competitors from 17 nations. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by Imre Németh of Hungary. It was the nation's first medal in the men's hammer throw. Ivan Gubijan of Yugoslavia took silver; that nation also earned its first medal in the event. Robert Bennett of the United States received the bronze medal, returning the American team to the podium after a one-Games absence.
The men's discus throw throwing event at the 1960 Summer Olympics took place on September 6 & September 7. Thirty-five athletes from 22 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Al Oerter of the United States, the nation's third consecutive and 10th overall victory in the men's discus throw. It was Oerter's second gold medal in the event; he would go on to win four. Oerter was the sixth man to win two medals in the event, and the third to win two gold medals. The United States earned its second consecutive and third overall medal sweep in the event, as Rink Babka took silver and Dick Cochran bronze.
The men's hammer throw at the 1960 Summer Olympics took place on September 2 (qualifying) and September 3 (final) at the Stadio Olimpico. The qualifying standards for the 1960 event were 60 m. There were 28 competitors from 18 nations. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Vasily Rudenkov of the Soviet Union, the nation's first victory in the event. Gyula Zsivótzky took silver, Hungary's fourth medal in the last four Games in the men's hammer throw. Tadeusz Rut's bronze was Poland's first medal in the event.
The men's hammer throw field event at the 1972 Summer Olympics took place on September 4 & 7. There were 31 competitors from 17 nations. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Anatoliy Bondarchuk of the Soviet Union, the nation's third victory in the men's hammer throw. Fellow Soviet Vasiliy Khmelevskiy took bronze. Silver went to Jochen Sachse of East Germany, the nation's first medal in the event. The Soviet Union's medal streak in the event extended to five Games, while Hungary's ended after three Games.
The men's hammer throw event at the 1952 Summer Olympics took place on 24 July at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. There were 33 competitors from 18 nations. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by József Csermák of Hungary, the nation's second consecutive victory in the event. Imre Németh, who had won four years earlier, took bronze; he was the fourth man to win multiple medals in the event. Silver went to Karl Storch of Germany.
The men's hammer throw competition at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico took place on October 16–17. There were 22 competitors from 12 nations. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Gyula Zsivótzky of Hungary, who had taken silver in both 1960 and 1964; he was the third man to win three medals in the hammer throw (after John Flanagan and Matt McGrath. Zsivótzky defeated defending champion Romuald Klim of the Soviet Union, who earned silver this time to become the sixth man to win multiple medals in the event. Bronze went to Lázár Lovász of Hungary.
