Olympic medal record

Men's Athletics

Gold

1912 Stockholm

Hammer throw

Silver

1908 London

Hammer throw

Silver

1924 Paris

Hammer throw

McGrath was born in Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland, and later immigrated to the United States. During his competitive years he stood 5′ 11½″ (1.82 m) tall and weighed 247 lb (112 kg), and was one of a group of large and dominant throwers referred to as the “Irish Whales”.

He did not achieve success in the hammer throw until age 27, when he ranked seventh on the world list of best marks. He remained in the world’s top ten up to the age of 50, making his career one of the longest and most consistent in the history of the sport. He won seven AAU hammer throw championships, won seven more in the little-contested 56-pound weight throw, and set two hammer throw world records. His lifetime best throw was the second of those records, 187′ 4″ (57.10 m), made at New York’s Celtic Park on October 29, 1911.

McGrath made his Olympic debut in 1908. He entered the Olympics as the (unofficial) world record holder and took second behind John Flanagan's third consecutive victory. In 1912 McGrath won the Olympic title in dominating fashion (the shortest of his six throws was over 15 feet (4.5 m) longer than any other competitor's best throw) and set an Olympic record that stood for 24 years.

At the 1920 Olympics McGrath was a co-favorite along with Pat Ryan but finished fifth after injuring his knee during the competition. In 1924 he again took the silver medal, setting (and still holding) the standard for the oldest American track and field medalist ever. An off day at the 1928 Final Olympic Try-Outs barely kept him off the 1928 Olympic team. There was a public outcry over McGrath's omission from the team and although he went to Amsterdam after a subscription fund had been raised to pay for his transportation, he was, not surprisingly, not allowed to compete.