Charles Reidy

The son of an Irish-born London doctor and one-time Mayor of Stepney (a post later held by UK Prime Minister Clement Atlee), Charles Reidy was born in England but was selected for Ireland to compete in the hammer throw at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Unfortunately, work commitments as a doctor (like his father) prevented him from travelling to The Games.

Reidy was educated at the Stonyhurst Roman Catholic College boarding school near Blackburn and in 1931 was the AAA junior shot champion. After going to Cambridge University he won an athletics half-Blue as a discus thrower. It was as a hammer thrower, however, that he came to prominence in the 1940s and 50s.

Winner of the Southern Counties AAA hammer title in 1946 and 1952, Reidy was fourth in the AAA senior hammer every year from 1949-52. He served in the Army from 1940 and won the 1953 Services Athletics Championship hammer title, having previously won many Army titles. Reidy was the Irish hammer champion five times between 1949-53 and represented Ireland in the triangular match between against Scotland, and a combined England/Wales team three times between 1949-51.

In addition to being a top athlete, Reidy boxed for the Belsize Boxing Club and was a member of the Cambridge University judo team. He was also an outstanding rugby forward, and along with his three brothers played for London Irish. He was club captain in 1936/37 and made his one and only Ireland international appearance in the 5-3 win over Wales at Belfast in April 1937.

Reidy served with the London Irish Rifles during World War II and was seriously injured following the battle at Stuka Ridge, Tunisia in 1943. Left for dead, Reidy recovered but was permanently blinded in one eye. He remained in the Army, joining the Education Corps, and reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was in charge of the Sandhurst Military Academy rugby team. While serving in Tunisia, Reidy is reputed to have built the world’s first cement hammer circle.