THE Olympics are now firmly under way and it’s time for iomtoday to draw attention to the first Manx Olympian and what he won in the way of a medal.
He was Daniel McDonald Lowey who was born in Ramsey on October 28th 1878 and he died aged 72 in Liverpool where he had been a policeman.
He won a silver medal in the 1908 Summer Games in London in the tug-of-war.
What follows is the official story from the website of Liverpool City Police:
‘Great Britain fielded three tug-of-war teams in the 1908 Olympics. Great Britain l was the City of London Police, Great Britain ll was the Liverpool City Police and Great Britain lll was made up of officers from the Metropolitan K Division.
Others teams entered: the United States of America, Sweden, Greece and Germany.
‘The Times of July 18 reported that the Great Britain ll Police beat the USA in the first pull of their competition.
‘The Americans objected to the Liverpool team’s boots.
‘According to the Americans the boots had illegal steel spikes, cleats and heels. Liverpool City Police insisted that the boots were standard police issue and the objection was overruled. The Americans then stormed out of the competition. The Liverpool team went on to beat the Swedes by two pulls to none. The final was between Great Britain l and Great Britain ll. Team l – the City of London Police – was victorious. The City of London Police then challenged the Americans to a contest in stocking feet. The offer was declined.
‘Tug-of-war made its final appearance in the Olympic Games in 1924 – England (gold), Met. Police (silver), Liverpool City Police (bronze).’
I must admit that I didn’t do the research necessary here.
It was done for me, without even asking, by one of Manx Radio’s bright young men, Dan Walker, who does Manx Radio TT 365.