Great Britain boycotted the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri, United States.Lucas, p.15: "England [sic] and France did not send a single competitor to America" Numerous events were contested, of which only some were later recognised by the IOC as official Olympic events. Within these, three athletes representing Ireland participated, winning one gold and one silver medal;Lucas, p.34: "John J. Daly, of Ireland, was the attraction"; p.40: "At the conclusion of the first day’s sport, a summing up of the points scored by the different countries competing showed that America led with a total of 80 points; Ireland was second with 4 points; Germany third with 3 points, and Hungary fourth with 2 points."Spalding, p.205: "T. F. Keily [sic], Ireland, 6036 points" since Ireland was part of the United Kingdom at the time, the IOC accordingly classifies these athletes as British.
With this classification, it should be mentioned that Tom Kiely, who won gold in the all-around athletics event, refused offers of a free trip and reimbursement of travel expenses from British and American officials, paid his own way, and was insistent that he represented Ireland. The disputed nationality of Kiely has historic importance in British Olympicism because it is his gold medal that allows Great Britain to claim to be the only nation to have won at least one gold at every Summer Games.IOC database: Great Britain medallists at 1904 Olympics
John Holloway had emigrated from Bansha to the U.S. some years previously and, like Kiely, wore a green singlet with a shamrock while competing. Holloway is counted as British by some statistics, whereas the Irish Whales (who represented U.S. clubs) are counted as American.
Medallists
MedalNameSportEventDate Athletics Men's all-around Athletics Men's 2590 m steeplechase
Results by event
Athletics
Event Place Athlete Final Men's 2590 metre steeplechase 2nd John Daly 7:40.6
Event Place Athlete Total score Men's all-around 1st Tom Kiely 6036 4th John Holloway 5273
References Lucas Spalding