John Cregan (athlete)
John Francis Cregan ( born January 29, 1878 in Schenectady, New York, † December 26, 1965 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an American athlete and medal winner at the Olympic Games.
Cregan was for some years a student at Princeton University and a short time a member of the New York Athletic Club. During this time he was one of the best middle distance runners in the United States. For his club he took part in the 1897 and 1898 U.S. Championships in Athletics, each won the race over 1 mile. As a student, he participated in 1898-1900 in the competitions of the IC4A ( Intercollegiale Association of Amateur Athlets of America ), which corresponded to the national student championships. He won the race over 880 yards in 1898, the over 1 mile, he won three years in a row for themselves.
The highlight of his career was the Olympic Summer Games 1900 in Paris. He had to start the intention in the 800 -meter run and the 1500 -meter run. On July 14, Cregan easily won his heat over 800 m. The next day, July 15, was a Sunday. To study the heats over 1500 m are held. However, Cregan was a devout man, whose religion forbade any sport on a Sunday. Therefore, together with his compatriot Alex Grant he renounced a start. The organizers had no pity on the wishes of many U.S. athletes who wanted to deny no competition on that day. They decided summarily, to dispense with the preliminaries above 1500 m because of the now smaller number of participants, and to organize the final run immediately. Cregan was thus brought to a safe medal chance.
Once again a day later, on July 16, Cregan went to the finals more than 800 m. He finished behind the British Alfred Tysoe second place, thus securing the silver medal, his only medal in the Olympics.
John Cregan was also on the list of participants in the marathon in Paris. It is not certain whether he actually started or whether he was forced to retire early. The finish he did not, anyway.
The rankings in the Olympics for John Francis Cregan:
- II Summer Olympic Games in 1900, Paris 800 m - SILVER with 2:03,0 min ( Gold Alfred Tysoe, GBR with 2:01,2 min; bronze to David Hall, United States)
- 1500 m - reported but not started
- Marathon - reported but not furnished or given up
Note: With the exception of the time of the winner, transit times are estimated, as there was no time measurement for the runners. For them, the residue was estimated to be the winner or pre-placed with a length specification.
About the future life of John Cregan, who reached an age of almost 88 years, nothing is known.