Triple Jump, Men

This competition ended early when Ville Tuulos recorded 14.505 metres in the first round. That mark held up to win the gold medal for the Finn. Tuulos did not approach the Olympic record (14.92), nor the world record (15.52), marks that had been set by the Ahearn(e) brothers. The Olympic mark was set by Tim Ahearne in London in 1908. His brother, Dan Ahearn, finished 6th in Antwerp but had set the world record at a meet in New York on 30 May 1911. Both Irish emigrants, the family name was Ahearne but Dan changed the spelling after arriving in the United States.

Dan Ahearn was lucky to be able to compete at all in the event. The American team was less than pleased with their accommodations in Antwerp, which were in an old school building. The team members protested to their officials, to no avail. The athletes had a 10 PM curfew, but one night, Ahearn did not return at all, having rented a room for himself in a tavern, in protest against his sleeping quarters. For this he was removed from the Olympic team. In response, the 200 members of the U.S. Olympic team signed a petition demanding better accomodations and that Ahearn be reinstated, threatening to withdraw en masse if their demands were not met. Eventually Ahearn was returned to the Olympic team and was thus able to compete.