Francis Valentine Joseph “Frank” Hussey was born on February 14, 1905 on 129th Street in Harlem, New York. He was an American athlete, winner of gold medal in 4×100 m relay at the 1924 Summer Olympics and considered one of the “Rock Stars of Track.”
Frank Hussey, a schoolboy sensation from Stuyvesant High School and college at Columbia University, ran the third leg in the American 4×100 m relay team in Paris Olympics, which won the gold medal in a new world record of 41.0.
After returning from Paris, he entered Boston College, and as a freshman became the leading Collegiate runner in America. He won the AAU championships in 100 yd in 1925.
During the 1928 Olympics, although he was considered as a main favorite to gold medal in 100 m before the 1928 Summer Olympics. Frank Hussey failed to qualify for the 1928 United States Olympic team at the national trials at Harvard, he decided to stowaway with two other nonqualifiers on the ship taking the American Olympic team to Europe to compete.
The July 30, 1928 Miami News photo caption says he was following his latest girlfriend, Miss Agnes Geraghty The three stowaways were quickly discovered and put in the ship’s brig. Frank was released the next day when friends on the Olympic team collected enough money to pay the cost of passage.
Frank Hussey worked most of his life as a salesman, but also taught in the New York State Prison System.
Hussey died on December 26, 1974, in Coxsackie, New York.
Photo credit: 1). Frank Hussey at the Olympic trials. 2 – 4). Frank Hussey working out and training. 5). Frank Hussey 5). March 29th, 1928 Hussey, with the stars of the 1924 Olympics re-united wokring out at Columbia University. Jackson Scholz, Charley Paddock and Frank Hussey Gold Medal winners, the “Rock Stars of Track.” Photo by Acme. 6) The love Olympic love affair with the Frank Hussey the stowaway and Agnes Geraghty the Olympic swimmer.
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