James Brendan Connolly wins a gold medal in the Olympics in Athens, Greece.

The South Boston native wins the first event in the first Olympics held in 1500 years, the hop, step, and jump, later called the triple jump). He also wins a silver medal (high jump) and a bronze medal (long jump). A member of the Suffolk Athletic Club, Connolly was forced to drop out of Harvard to compete in the games, while other students who competed were not. Other Boston athletes who win gold medal winners in the games are Harvard students Thomas Burke of the West End (100 and 400 meters) and Ellery Clark (high jump), , Massachusetts Institute of Technology student Thomas Curtis (110 yard hurdles), and brothers John and Sumner Paine (shooting events).