View source for Martin Sheridan

{{short description|Athletics competitor}}
{{MedalTableTop|Martin_Sheridan_1910_Mecca_card_front.jpg|250px|Martin Sheridan|medals=
{{Medal|Sport | Men's [[Athletics (sport)|athletics]]}}
{{Medal|Country | the {{flagcountry|USA|1908}} }}
{{Medal|Competition | [[Athletics at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]}}
[[File:Olympic rings.svg|center|80px]]
{{Medal|Gold| [[1904 Summer Olympics|1904 St Louis]] | [[Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics – Men's discus throw|Discus throw]]}}
{{Medal|Gold| [[1908 Summer Olympics|1908 London]] | [[Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's discus throw|Discus throw]]}}
{{Medal|Gold| 1908 London | [[Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's Greek discus throw|Greek discus]]}}
{{Medal|Bronze| 1908 London | [[Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's standing long jump|Standing long jump]]}}
{{Medal|Competition|[[Intercalated Games]]}}
{{Medal|Gold| [[1906 Intercalated Games|1906 Athens]] | [[Athletics at the 1906 Intercalated Games|Discus throw]]}}
{{Medal|Gold| 1906 Athens | Shot put}}
{{Medal|Silver| 1906 Athens | Standing high jump}}
{{Medal|Silver| 1906 Athens |Standing long jump}}
{{Medal|Silver| 1906 Athens | Stone throw}}
}}
[[File:Martin Sheridan.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Martin Sheridan preparing to win the [[discus]] event at the [[1908 Olympic Games]] in London.]]
[[File:Irish Whales John Flanagan Martin Sheridan James Mitchel.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[John Flanagan (hammer thrower)|John Flanagan]] and Martin Sheridan of the [[Irish American Athletic Club]], with fellow Irishman [[James Mitchel]]l of the [[New York Athletic Club]] at the [[1904 Olympic Games]] in St. Louis, Missouri.]]

'''Martin John Sheridan''' (March 28, 1881 &ndash; March 27, 1918) was an [[Irish Americans|Irish-American]] athlete and three time [[Olympic Games]] gold medallist in [[discus throw]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/79031 |title=Martin Sheridan |work=Olympedia |access-date=February 2, 2021}}</ref>

Born in [[Bohola]], [[County Mayo]], Ireland, he was a participant of both the [[1904 Olympic Games|1904]] and the [[1908 Summer Olympics|1908 Olympic Games]], and was part of a group of Irish-American athletes known as the "[[Irish Whales]]".

He died on 27 March 1918, at St. Vincent's Hospital in [[Manhattan]], New York, the day before his 37th birthday, from the [[Spanish flu|Spanish flu pandemic]]. He is buried in [[Calvary Cemetery, Queens]], New York.

==Career==
At 6&nbsp;ft 3 in (191&nbsp;cm) and 194&nbsp;lbs (88&nbsp;kg), Sheridan was the best all-around athlete of the [[Irish American Athletic Club]], and like many of his team mates, served with the [[New York City Police Department]] (from 1906 until his death in 1918).  Sheridan was so well respected in the NYPD, that he served as the Governor's personal bodyguard when the governor was in [[New York City]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200417171247/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1906/ATH/mens-discus-throw.html Mens Discus Throw at Sports Reference]</ref>

A five-time Olympic [[gold medalist]], with a total of nine Olympic medals, Sheridan was called "one of the greatest figures that ever represented this country in international sport, as well as being one of the most popular who ever attained the championship honor."<ref name="New York Times, March 28, 1918"/> He won the [[discus throw]] event at the 1904, 1906, and 1908 [[Summer Olympics]] as well as the [[shot put]] at the 1906 Olympics and the Greek discus in 1908. At the [[1906 Intercalated Games]] in [[Athens]] he also won silver medals in the standing high jump, standing long jump and the stone throw.

In 1907, Sheridan won the National [[Amateur Athletic Union]] discus championship and the Canadian championship, and in 1908 he won the Metropolitan, National and Canadian championships as well as two gold medals in the discus throw and bronze in the standing long jump at the 1908 Olympic Games.<ref>[http://www.wingedfist.com/sheridan.html 1910 Mecca Cigarettes Champion Athlete and Prize Fighter Series trading card.]</ref>

Two of Martin Sheridan's [[gold medals]] from the [[1904 Olympic Games]] in [[St. Louis]], Missouri and one of his medals from the [[1906 Olympic Games]] in [[Athens]], Greece, are currently located in the [[USA Track & Field]]'s Hall of Fame History Gallery, in [[Washington Heights, Manhattan|Washington Heights]], Manhattan.

==Legacy==
It is often claimed that Sheridan fueled a controversy in London in 1908, when flagbearer [[Ralph Rose]] refused to dip the flag to [[King Edward VII]].  Sheridan is supposed to have supported Rose by explaining "This flag dips to no earthly king," and it is claimed that his statement exemplified both [[Ireland|Irish]] and [[United States|American]] defiance of the British monarchy. However, careful research has shown that this was first reported in 1952. Sheridan himself made no mention of it in his published reports on the Games and neither did his obituary.<ref>Mallon & Buchanan, Journal of Olympic History, Sept 1999</ref>

The inscription on the granite Celtic Cross monument marking Martin Sheridan's grave in [[Calvary Cemetery, Queens]], [[New York (state)|New York]] says in part: "Devoted to the Institutions of his Country, and the Ideals and Aspirations of his Race. Athlete. Patriot."

According to his obituary in the New York Times, Sheridan was "one of the greatest athletes the United States has ever known".<ref name="New York Times, March 28, 1918">New York Times, March 28, 1918.</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book|author=Cook, Theodore Andrea |title=The Fourth Olympiad London 1908 Official Report |publisher=[[British Olympic Association]] |location=London |date=May 1909 |url=http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1908/1908.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927222443/http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1908/1908.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2007-09-27 |access-date=2008-12-29 }}
* {{cite book | last = Greenberg | first = Stan | year = 1987 | title = Olympic Games: The Records | publisher = Guinness Books | location = London | isbn = 0-85112-896-3 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/olympicgamesreco00gree }}
* {{cite book | last = Kieran | first = John | year = 1977 | title = The Story of the Olympic Games; 776 B.C. to 1976 | publisher = J.B. Lippincott Company | location = Philadelphia and New York | isbn = 0-397-01168-7 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/storyofolympicga0000kier_j1r1 }}
* http://www.wingedfist.com/assets/Sheridan_from_Sprin_3100.pdf Police Athletes of the Past: Martin Sheridan - ''[[Spring 3100]]''

==External links==
* {{Find a Grave|6647947}}
*[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/03/28/102682763.pdf New York Times obituary]
*{{sports links}}

{{Footer Olympic Champions Discus Throw Men}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions Throws Men}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions Shot Put Men}}
{{USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners in men's weight throw}}
{{USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners in men's shot put}}
{{USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners in men's pole vault}}
{{USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners in men's triple jump}}
{{Footer US NC shot put Men}}
{{Footer US NC Discus Men}}
{{Footer US NC All-Around Men}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheridan, Martin}}
[[Category:1881 births]]
[[Category:1918 deaths]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from County Mayo]]
[[Category:American Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:American male shot putters]]
[[Category:American male discus throwers]]
[[Category:American male high jumpers]]
[[Category:American male long jumpers]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1904 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1906 Intercalated Games]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Irish emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:New York City Police Department officers]]
[[Category:Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Queens)]]
[[Category:Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1904 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1906 Intercalated Games]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from New York City]]
[[Category:People from Bohola]]
[[Category:Police officers from County Mayo]]
[[Category:American male triple jumpers]]
[[Category:American male pole vaulters]]
[[Category:Male weight throwers]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]