Owen 'threw the bar'.

[Scott Bushey]

"Few men of great eminence appear to have occupied the chairs of the university at this period; but Owen was fortunate enough to have his studies in mathematics and philosophy superintended by a tutor of solid attainments and subsequent high distinction, — Thomas Barlow, then a fellow of Queen’s College, afterwards its provost, and who, in course of time, was elevated to the see of Lincoln.7 The boy-student devoted himself to the various branches of learning with an intensity that would have unhinged most minds, and broken in pieces any bodily constitution except the most robust. For several years of his university curriculum he allowed himself only four hours of the night for sleep, though he had the wisdom so far to counteract the injurious influence of sedentary habits and excessive mental toil, by having recourse to bodily recreation in some of its most robust and even violent forms. Leaping, throwing the bar, bell-ringing, and similar amusements, occasionally allured him from his books"

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/thomson/owenlife.ii.html

Apparently, Owen hit the metal pretty hard! Leaping: High jumping? Long jumping? Throwing the bar: Weights? Bell ringing: Using a sledge hammer and hitting a bell? Sounds like Cross Fit!

 

[Scott Bushey]

Better definition:

"As with other customs with a long heritage, the sport of hammer throwing has uncertain origins. though. given man's tendency to turn the objects around him to the uses of sport. it likely dates back as far as do the hammers themselves. There have been attempts to link the sport with the roth-cleas or 'wheel feat' of the ancient Irish Tailteann Games (1829 B.C.) or the 'casting of the bar' of Renaissance England. These connections are tenuous at best, as the former is considered folkloric and the latter often appears alongside of 'throwing the sledge hammer in lists of events. The description of the throwing of a chariot spoke by the hero Cuchulain at the Tailteann Games by spinning around and releasing it is certainly not far off of later descriptions of bar and hammer throwing.

One of the earliest references to weight and hammer throwing is from the reign of Edward III (1327-1377) These sports were among those prohibited in an effort to prevent men from neglecting their archery practice. Interestingly enough. this concern was partially the result of threats from the -Scots, including Robert the Bruce. who had won Scottish independence from Edward II in the battle of Bannockburn in 1314."

http://www.jardine-electronics.com/athletics/hist.html

 

[Edward]

"Casting the Bar" Encyclopedia of Traditional British Rural Sports (Only $179.45 at Barnes and Nobles) doesn't cast much light. It suggests that Henry VIII threw it in the fashion of modern hammer throwers, but previously suggests that the weight of the bar might determine whether it was thrown like a javelin or a caber.

The free Ancient Customs, Sports and Pastimes, of the English by Jehoshaphat Aspin doesn't provide even that level of speculation, but has the advantage of being free as an ebook as it came out in 1835.

 

[Jack K]

Sounds to me like he intentionally failed his law exams.