Johnny Hayes

John ("Johnny") Joseph Hayes (April 10, 1886 – August 25, 1965) was an American athlete, a member of the Irish American Athletic Club, and winner of the marathon race at the 1908 Summer Olympics.

Born in New York City to a family of Irish emigrants (from Nenagh in Co. Tipperary), Johnny Hayes is probably best known for winning the controversial marathon race at the London Olympics. He was also the last American to win Olympic marathon gold prior to Frank Shorter in 1972.

In 1905 he had joined Bloomingdale brothers as an assistant to the manager of the sporting goods department. At night he trained on a cinder track on the roof of the Bloomingdale building in New York. He was promoted to manager of the department on returning after his Olympic victory. ["New York Times" 25 July 1908]

Hayes started his athletics career with a fifth place finish at the 1906 Boston Marathon. He improved on that the following year by finishing third in Boston and winning the Yonkers Marathon. In 1908 he finished second to Thomas Morrissey in the Boston Marathon and thus qualified for the Olympic Games held in London that same year.

The British Olympic Association wanted to start the race in front of Windsor Castle and finish in front of the royal reviewing stand at the White City Stadium. As a result, the distance was 42 km and 195 m. It took until 1921 for the IAAF to codify that distance as the official length of the marathon. Prior to this, races were usually about 25 miles (40 km).

At the race itself, Dorando Pietri from Italy was the first to enter the stadium. But Pietri took a wrong turn, collapsed, was helped up by doctors, wobbled and fell three more times before being half-carried across the finish line by race officials. Caught up in the drama of Pietri's agony, the cheering crowd hardly noticed that he was declared the winner just as second place runner, Hayes, entered the stadium. Pietri was disqualified after the US officials filed a protest, saying Pietri had been aided by spectators. Despite the official result, Pietri achieved much more fame than Hayes, when Queen Alexandra awarded him a special gold cup.

After the dramatic Olympic battle between Pietri and Hayes, public interest was such that a match race was organized by professional promoters in November, 1908 at Madison Square Garden. The race was won by Pietri by 75 yards. A second match race was held on March 15, 1909 and again Pietri won. Both Pietri and Hayes turned professional after the Olympics, and achieved great fame.

Hayes was a trainer for the US 1912 Olympic team. He later taught physical education and was a food broker. Johnny Hayes died in Englewood, New Jersey.

The Shore Athletic Club of New Jersey (Shore AC) holds the Johnny Hayes collection as lifetime trustees. Included in the collection are numerous trophies as well as the 1908 Olympic gold medal for the marathon. This represents the first Olympic gold medal to be won at the modern marathon distance of 26 miles, 385 yards.