John Lawlor finished 4th in the men’s hammer throw at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games, breaking the Olympic record twice in the final rounds with a best throw of 64.95 metres, the finest performance by an Irish hammer thrower in Olympic competition since Matt McGrath in 1912 and the highest placing by an Irish thrower at the Games since Pat O’Callaghan’s gold medals.

Lawlor began hammer throwing when he joined An Garda Siochana in 1953 and won his first Irish hammer title in 1955. In 1956 he became a scholarship athlete at Boston University where the reputation of hammer coach Ed Flanagan was the deciding factor. His progress was remarkable. In 1958 he became the first Irish hammer thrower to break the 200-foot barrier (60.96m) and went on to win three successive NCAA hammer titles (1958-60).

In Olympic year he extended his Irish record to 64.60m and produced his career best of 65.18m at the USA Championships at Bakersfield, California on 24 June 1960, finishing third behind Hal Connolly. In a famous incident at Rome, the jeep assigned to transport him to the Olympic stadium failed to arrive, forcing him to take a bus that became caught in heavy traffic. He arrived at the stadium late, had to jump a fence to make a short-cut, and had time for just one rushed warm-up throw. Despite this, his 64.95m in the final secured 4th place, and the first eight throwers all broke the Melbourne Olympic record.

He went on to compete at the Tokyo 1964 Olympics where he was flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony.