József Remecz (3 March 1907 – 17 May 1989) was a Hungarian discus thrower. Remecz broke the European record in men's discus throw several times and was the first European to break 50 metres. He was one of the favorites at the 1932 Summer Olympics, but only placed ninth.
Career
editHungary became Europe's leading discus throw power during the early 1930s, with the emergence of throwers like Remecz, István Donogán and Endre Madarász.[1] Remecz first broke the European record in 1931, throwing 48.83 m in Debrecen; his mark was the best in the world that year.[1][2][3] Remecz broke the European record three more times in 1932, eventually reaching 50.73 m in Dunakeszi; he was the first European to break 50 metres.[1][3] He was one of the leading favorites at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles,[1][4] but he underperformed and only reached 45.02 m, placing ninth and failing to qualify for the final rounds.[1][5]
Remecz's European record was broken by Sweden's Harald "Slaktarn" Andersson in 1934.[1][3] Remecz was Hungarian champion in 1932, 1933 and 1934[6] and placed fourth at the inaugural European Championships in Turin, behind Andersson, Paul Winter and Donogán.[7] Although Remecz never improved his personal best again,[2][8] he remained in good shape for a long time, ranking in the world's top 25 thirteen times between 1931 and 1944.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f Jukola, Martti (1935). Huippu-urheilun historia (in Finnish). Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö.
- ^ a b c "József Remetz". Track and Field Statistics. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ^ a b c Sparks, Bob (31 December 2002). "European Records Progression (Men)". Archived from the original on 18 February 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ^ Gould, Alan (Associated Press) (30 July 1932). "Many Records May Be Broken In The Olympics". Thomasville Times-Enterprise. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ^ "József Remetz Bio, Stats and Results". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ^ "Magyar férfi bajnokok atlétikában, dobó számok" (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ^ Jalava, Mirko (2014). "European Athletics Championships Zürich 2014: Statistics Handbook" (PDF). European Athletics. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ^ All-Time List As At 31 December 1945, Association of Track and Field Statisticians
