Ljubica Gabrić-Calvesi (17 October 1914 – 16 December 2015), known as Gabre Gabric, was an Italian

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who competed in the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

and in the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

. Her best discus throw was 43.35 m (1939).

Biography

Ljubica Gabrić was born in

Imotski Imotski (; it, Imoschi; lat, Emotha, later ''Imota'') is a small town on the northern side of the Biokovo massif in the Dalmatian Hinterland of southern Croatia, near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Imotski, like the surrounding inland D ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

(then part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

). She was wife of

Sandro Calvesi Alessandro "Sandro" Calvesi (5 September 1913 – 20 November 1980) was an Italian Athletics (sport), athletics coach. Biography Married to 1936 and 1948 Olympian Gabre Gabric, among the people he coached was the Italian hurdler Eddy Ottoz, after ...

, an Italian athletic coach (

hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

), and mother-in-law of

Eddy Ottoz Eddy Ottoz (born 3 June 1944) is an Italian former athlete and bronze medalist at the 1968 Summer Olympics in the 110 metre hurdles. Biography Sport career Ottoz competed for Italy in the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics, 1964 Summer Olym ...

(grandmother of

Laurent Ottoz Laurent Ottoz (born 10 April 1970) is an Italian hurdling, hurdler. He won four medals, at senior level, at International athletics championships and games, international athletics competitions. Career His personal best time was 13.42 seconds, a ...

and Patrick Ottoz). While many sources give a birth year of 1914 and she competed in masters-level tournaments with this year of birth, Gabrić claimed in an interview that she was born in 1917 and that 1914 was a transcription error: however, this admission is in contradiction with additional sources, including her arrival in the United States at age 9 in 1923, documented by

Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mi ...

records and the fact that Olympic documents dating to the 1936 and 1948 Olympics establish a birthdate of 17 October 1914, probably originating from her own answers at the time. In 1936, she finished tenth in the Olympic discus throw event. Twelve years later she finished 17th in the discus throw competition at the 1948 Olympics. In the

1938 European Championships in Athletics The 2nd European Athletics Championships was a continental athletics competition for European athletes which was held in two places in 1938. The men's event took place in Paris, France between 3–5 September while the women's events were in Vien ...

she finished sixth in the discus throw contest and in the

1950 European Championships in Athletics The 4th European Athletics Championships were held from 23 August to 27 August 1950 in the Heysel Stadium of the Belgian capital Brussels. Contemporaneous reports on the event were given in the Glasgow Herald. Men's results Complete results ...

she finished seventh in the discus throw event. Records from the European Championships use the 1917 birthdate, reporting her as a 20 year old and 32 year old respectively. In 2010, she was still competing in Veterans Athletic Championships and, following the 2011 death of

Alfred Proksch Alfred Proksch (December 11, 1908 – January 3, 2011) was an Austrian Olympic athlete and graphic designer. The son of one of the co-founders of the Wiener Sport-Club, Proksch took an active interest in both athletics and g ...

, was the last known track and field competitor from the 1936 Olympic Games to still be competing. At the 2010 European Veterans Athletics Championships in

Nyíregyháza Nyíregyháza (, sk, Níreďháza) is a city with county rights in northeastern Hungary and the county capital of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg. With a population of 118,001, it is the seventh-largest city in Hungary and the second largest in t ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, she set the current W95

World Records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

in the

Shot Put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

and the Discus. Gabrić died on 16 December 2015, aged 101.

Masters world records

Gabric held four world records in masters W95 category (athletes who have completed the ninety-fifth year of age), records regularly recognized by the International Governing Body,

World Masters Athletics World Masters Athletics (WMA) is the worldwide governing body for the sport of masters athletics – which includes track and field, cross country, and road running events – as participated by people over 35 years of age. As the need became ap ...

. This is because for the World Masters Athletics and

FIDAL The Italian Athletics Federation (Italian: ''Federazione Italiana di Atletica Leggera'', FIDAL), is the governing body for athletics in Italy since 1906. The Italian Federation, founded on 21 October 1906, on initiative of ''La Gazzetta dello Sp ...

(Italian athletics federation), recognize the birthdate of 1914.

Achievements

;Senior ;Masters

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gabric-Calvesi, Gabre 1914 births 2015 deaths Italian female discus throwers Italian centenarians Italian people of Croatian descent Olympic athletes of Italy Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics Italian masters athletes World record holders in masters athletics Sportspeople from Imotski Yugoslav emigrants to the United States Women centenarians Croatian centenarians

Biography

Masters world records

Achievements

See also

References

External links