[citation needed] However, the rules of the games were changed so that only athletes nominated by National Olympic Committees were eligible.

On registering for the Games, Leahy and his fellow-athletes found that they were listed as United Kingdom, not Irish, team members.

[8] Leahy was subsequently involved in the protest at the flag-raising ceremony for the long jump when O'Connor scaled a flagpole in the middle of the field and waved the Irish flag.

[9] Leahy won the gold medal in the high jump with 1.775 meters, beating Hungarian Lajos Gönczy by 2.5 cm.

In 2006, to mark the 100th anniversary of his Olympic medal win, a memorial was unveiled in Thomas Street, Limerick.