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{{Short description|American steeplechaser and long distance runner (1911–2002)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| full_name      = Joseph Paul McCluskey
| birth_date     = {{Birth date text|June 2, 1911}}
| birth_place    = {{nowrap|[[South Manchester, Connecticut]], U.S.}}
| death_date     = {{Death-date and age|August 31, 2002|June 2, 1911}}
| death_place    = [[Madison, Connecticut]], U.S.
| headercolor    = lightsteelblue
| medaltemplates = 
{{MedalSport | Men's [[sport of athletics|athletics]] }}
{{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Athletics at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]] }}
{{MedalBronze | [[Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics|1932 Los Angeles]] | [[Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 3000 metres steeplechase|3000 m steeplechase]] }}
}}

'''Joseph Paul McCluskey''' (June 2, 1911 – August 31, 2002) was an American [[track and field]] athlete.<ref name="SR/Olympics">{{cite Sports-Reference |url=http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/mc/joe-mccluskey-1.html |title=Joe McCluskey |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203151358/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/mc/joe-mccluskey-1.html |archive-date=2016-12-03}}</ref> During his running career, he won 27 national titles in various distance events and captured the [[steeplechase (athletics)|steeplechase]] title a record nine times in a 13-year period.

==Biography==
At the [[1932 Summer Olympics]] in [[Los Angeles, California]], McCluskey won the bronze medal in the 3,000-meter steeplechase event. However, his medal could have been a silver. A substitute lap counter failed to hold up the number of the laps remaining the first time the runners went past, and the athletes wound up running an extra lap. McCluskey was second at what should have been the end of the regular race but dropped back to third during the extra lap. When offered the opportunity to rerun the race the next day, McCluskey said, "A race has only one finish line"<ref name="New York Times">{{cite news |last=Litsky |first=Frank |date=September 1, 2002 |title=Joe McCluskey, 91, Track Medalist, Dies |work=The New York Times |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9503EFD7103FF932A3575AC0A9649C8B63 |access-date=2007-12-31 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104065908/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/01/sports/joe-mccluskey-91-track-medalist-dies.html |archive-date=2012-11-04}}</ref> and chose to let the results stand making it the only 3,460-meter steeplechase event ever held in Olympic history.

McCluskey, born in [[South Manchester, Connecticut]],<ref name="SR/Olympics" /><ref name="New York Times" /> was also a 1936 Olympian and coached the [[New York Athletic Club]] for fourteen years. He graduated from [[Manchester High School (Connecticut)|Manchester High School]] in 1929. A 1933 graduate of [[Fordham University]], McCluskey was inducted into the Fordham University Hall of Fame, the [[New York Athletic Club|NYAC]] Hall of Fame, the [[USATF]] Hall of Fame in 1996 as well as the [[Penn Relays]] Wall of Fame posthumously in 2010.

He served as Lieutenant Commander in the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]], then later married having eight children and employed as a stockbroker in [[New York City]].

McCluskey died in [[Madison, Connecticut]] at the age of 91.<ref name="SR/Olympics" /><ref name="New York Times" /> He was survived by his wife Anne Conger, and his eight children, Joseph Jr., Mary Cotard, Kathleen McElroy, James, Robert, Richard, Susan Jaeger, and Martin van Buren. He also had 12 grandchildren, with his last grandchild born in 2003. His grandchildren are Julian and Antoine Cotard, Daniel and Emily McElroy, Andrew and Richard Jr. McCluskey, Joanna and Laura Jaeger, and Gabrielle, Liam, Lucas, and Aidan McCluskey. Two of his grandchildren, Daniel McElroy and Laura Jaeger, followed in his footsteps and attended Fordham University, where Laura competed, like her grandfather, on the track and field team running the 4x400 relay race.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite magazine |last=Boylan-Pett |first=Liam |date=December 2018 |url=https://lopemagazine.com/2018/12/21/joe-mccluskey-olympian-steeplechase-1932-manchester-fighter/ |title=The No-Nonsense, Fist-Fightin', 27-Time-National Champion Who Raced His Ass Off |magazine=Løpe Magazine |issue=4}}
* [http://www.manchesterhistory.org/reprints/MHS3_JoeMcCluskey.html Joe McCluskey, "Manchester's Greatest Runner"] at the Manchester Historical Society
* [https://fordhamsports.com/honors/hall-of-fame/joseph-mccluskey/235 Joseph McCluskey] at the [[Fordham University Athletics]] Hall of Fame
* {{USATF Hall of Fame}}
* {{Olympics.com profile|joseph-paul-mccluskey|Joseph Paul McCluskey}}
* {{Olympedia}}

{{Footer US NC 5000m Men}}
{{Footer US NC 10000m Men}}
{{Footer US NC Steeplechase Men}}
{{Footer US NC Indoor 3000 meters Men}}
{{Footer US NC 15K run Men}}
{{Footer US NC Cross Country Men}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1932 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1936 Summer Olympics}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:McCluskey, Joe}}
[[Category:1911 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:American male steeplechase runners]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from Connecticut]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1932 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Fordham University alumni]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Manchester, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1932 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:American masters athletes]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:Manchester High School (Connecticut) alumni]]