James Duncan (discus thrower)
 James Duncan in 1913 | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | September 25, 1887 New York, United States | |||||||||||
| Died | January 21, 1955 (aged 67) | |||||||||||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | |||||||||||
| Weight | 86 kg (190 lb) | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||
| Event | Discus throw | |||||||||||
| Club | Mohawk Athletic Club Bradhurst Field Club Irish American Athletic Club | |||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||
| Personal best | 47.59 m (1912) | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||
James Henry Duncan (September 25, 1887 – January 21, 1955) was an American
U.S. Army
.
World record
Duncan was the first holder of the official world discus record. On May 26, 1912, he hurled the discus with his right hand 156 feet 1¾ inches (47.59) at the
IAAF when they issued their inaugural list of records in 1912.[3]
Military career
Duncan was a Lieutenant in the
U.S. Army, he stayed in France, married a French woman and opened a gymnasium in Paris. He was also the caretaker and manager of the American Military Cemetery at Suresnes, near Paris and corresponded with many American mothers, informing them of his visits to their sons graves.[2]
In 1920, he was offered the position of trainer for the French Olympic athletes training for the
1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp.[4] In 1927, his 3-year-old daughter, Jacqueline Duncan won a beauty competition, being voted "the healthiest and most beautiful child of more than 30,000 who entered a competition organized by one of the leading Paris newspapers."[5]
Duncan was critically injured in 1932, when in an apparent suicide attempt, he shot himself three times, with two bullets lodging in his abdomen. He was in France.[6] He died on January 21, 1955.
References
- ^ Jim Duncan Archived 2012-08-27 at the Wayback Machine. Sports-reference.com
- ^ a b New York Times, April 27, 1932.
- ^ "James Duncan". Olympedia. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- ^ New York Times, April 16, 1920.
- ^ New York Times, June 1, 1927.
- New York Times. Retrieved 2010-07-09.
Further reading
- Sullivan, James E. (1912). The Olympic Games Stockholm – 1912 (PDF). New York: American Sports Publishing Company. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-04-10. Retrieved 2009-01-03.