Comments on: Dan Carroll: rugby’s greatest Olympian

By: Rennard Rice

Rennard Rice — Sun, 23 May 2010 18:16:07 +0000

I can find no definitive proof (newspapers,…name listed as a coach…) of the fantastic Dan Carroll having been with the 1924 American Olympic rugby team. I don’t think he was there, despite Mr. Humbert assertion found in the two photos referenced in his post of July 29, 2009. I respect Mr. Humbert’s knowledge of early rugby, but they look nothing alike. Look at the ears. I have been doing a lot of research and I believe that is coach Charles Austin in the 1924 photo. Can anyone help me with positive evidence that Dan Carroll made it to France, or even was with the American team in 1923-24? I am in the midst of a screenplay and need to know. Some sources suggest he may have been in England at that time furthering his education after having been hired by Standard Oil. Can anyone clear this up? Many thanks.

By: Frederic Humbert

Frederic Humbert — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:05:16 +0000

commenting one later later… better late than never…

I’ve found your interesting paper while googling for Dan Carroll : I’ve posted some pictures of him in 1908, 1920 and 1924 on my website : http://bit.ly/HjrPf

Thanks !

By: Spiro Zavos

Spiro Zavos — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 12:40:16 +0000

I take Dublin Dave’s point. In my book on the history of the Wallabies, The Golden Wallabies, I make the tongue-in-cheek suggestion that NZ should claim half of the Wallabies gold medal on the grounds that the competing team represented Australasin, not Australia.
I can’t find any NZ officials to press the point, and I can’t understand why they don’t.

By: Dublin Dave

Dublin Dave — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 12:06:05 +0000

With a little bit of pedantry you could ask the question which Australian won three Olympic golds without ever having represented Australia?

Carroll would be your man (even though I doubt he actually won three if he was only the coach of USA in 1924. Do coaches get medals?)

The fact is that Australia did not participate in the 1908 Olympics. Instead it was part of a wider team called Australasia which included New Zealand. Although to be fair, the rugby team was made up entirely of Australians. Just as the Great Britain team that it defeated was represented by Cornwall.

Saying Australia won gold in 1908 is a little like saying that the likes of David Wilkie and Alan Wells won gold medals for Scotland. They didn’t. They won for the UK.

By: Cliff - Bishkek

Cliff - Bishkek — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 05:02:06 +0000

Spiro you are pushing the statistics truth a little bi far – BUT – a great story.

It would be an interesting article if some “journalist” could reasearch and discover the STORY of Dan Carroll’s life. Seems as if it would make for interesting reading.

By: Blind Freddy

Blind Freddy — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 01:49:15 +0000

Oh c’mon Spiro, you’re gilding the rugby lily just a trifle too much with this one.

Carroll was at ONE Olympic Games representing Australia, not three.

By your logic, Austalia can lay claim to not only every Olympic medal won by Australia (including all the imported Aussies like Tatiana Grigorieva), but also every Olympic medal won by every ex-pat Aussie for any other country in the world.

I’m thankful that Enrique “Topo” Rodriguez retired from the Wallabies before they won the 1991 World Cup, otherwise Spiro would have us sharing the trophy with Argentina.

By: JohnB

JohnB — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:24:18 +0000

Spiro, hate to be picky but Edwin Flack won 2 golds in 1896, and there were Olympics in Stockholm in 1912 so Dan Carroll did not win gold (counting coaching a winning side as “winning gold”) at 3 successive Olympics. At the 3 he competed at, yes (counting the coaching), at 3 successive, no.

By: Steffy

Steffy — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:15:35 +0000

Rugby union at the Olympics was a bit of a joke though; the teams weren’t usually national teams, just whoever could be bothered making an appearance, the sport was dropped because of that and violence at a game.