Stasys Šačkus (September 9, 1907 – November 9, 1985) was a Lithuanian athlete and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player.

Biography

In 1928, he graduated

Marijampolė Gymnasium Marijampolė Rygiškių Jonas Gymnasium ( lt, Marijampolės Rygiškių Jono gimnazija) is a secondary school in Marijampolė, Lithuania. It is named after Rygiškių Jonas, one of the pen names of linguist Jonas Jablonskis who was one of the gymn ...

. Later studied

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

studies at

Vytautas Magnus University Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) ( lt, Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas (VDU)) is a public university in Kaunas, Lithuania. The university was founded in 1922 during the interwar period as an alternate national university. Initially it was known ...

. Stasys actively participated in sport, academic and political life. In 1934, he graduated Department of Physical Education Academy in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. During

occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany The military occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany lasted from the German invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 to the end of the Battle of Memel on January 28, 1945. At first the Germans were widely welcomed as liberators from the re ...

, he was member of

Lithuanian Activist Front The Lithuanian Activist Front or LAF () was a short-lived, far-right underground resistance organization established in 1940 after Lithuania was incorporated by the Soviet Union. The goal of the organization was to liberate Lithuania and re-estab ...

, participated in June Uprising. He also was member of Lithuanian Freedom Army. On October 18, 1945, he was exiled to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

by Soviet authorities and imprisoned in Vorkuta Gulag. He later returned to Lithuania.

Sporting activities

During his years in gymnasium, he became one of the best Lithuanian athlete. Before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he accomplished pentathlon,

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

and 110 meter

hurdling 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, ...

records. Šačkus is the most famous for his

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by th ...

ing. He is the first to overcome 40 meter point with his 44-meter result. He participated in various

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

competitions in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

, Riga. He was the first Lithuanian sportsman to participate in the first athletics competition -

1934 European Athletics Championships The 1st European Athletics Championships were held in Turin, Italy, at the Stadio Benito Mussolini between 7 and 9 September 1934. A contemporaneous report on the event was given in the Glasgow Herald. Results Medalists and complete results were ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. In addition, Šačkus also was

Lithuania national basketball team Lithuania national basketball team may refer to: * Lithuania men's national basketball team * Lithuania women's national basketball team * Lithuania men's national under-20 basketball team * Lithuania men's national under-18 and under-19 basketba ...

player, won EuroBasket gold medals for the first time in Lithuania history during

EuroBasket 1937 The 1937 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1937, was the second FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA. Eight national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) took pa ...

. He also won two gold medals in Lithuanian National Olympic Games. In 1939, he was the first Lithuanian to be awarded international category basketball referee name. Later he was Republic Basketball Committee chairman, gymnastics federation (LGSF) sports club "Vaidotas" member, LGSF football team manager. He was awarded honored coach name.

Sources

* Vidas Mačiulis, Vytautas Gudelis. Halė, kurioje žaidė Lubinas ir Sabonis. 1939–1989 – Respublikinis sporto kombinatas, Kaunas, 1989 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sackus, Stasys 1907 births 1985 deaths FIBA EuroBasket-winning players Lithuanian men's basketball players Gulag detainees