Vol. 2 No. 75 Who Was Ralph Rose?

One of Roy Mason's criticisms of the IAAF Hall of Fame inductees was the omission of Ralph Rose.  I had to ask myself, "Who is/was Ralph Rose?"  Roy answered that today with a letter including a clipping about Ralph,  a three time Olympic shot put champion in 1904, 1908, and 1912.   Ralph was a native of Healdsburg, California, near where Roy lives in Ukiah, and was the flag carrier at London in 1908 who refused to dip the US flag to the King of England, it being a time when Ireland had been refused independence by our British cousins.  Ralph, a son of Irish immigrants was most in tune with that issue.   He also won silvers and bronzes in the the discus and hammer in those three games.  He died tragically in 1913 of typhus.

Double click on images to enlarge them.