Sándor Tarics (23 September 1913 – 21 May 2016) was a Hungarian

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

player who won a gold medal 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 ...

Biography

Born in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, Tarics was part of the Hungarian team which won the gold medal, pushing Germany into second. He played two matches, and scored two goals. He also won gold medals with the Hungarian team at the

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

and

1937 International University Games The 1937 International University Games were organised by the Confederation Internationale des Etudiants (CIE) and held in Paris, France. Held from 21–29 August, 22 nations competed in fourteen sports. Boxing, cycling, field hockey, handball, a ...

as well as the unofficial, German-led

1939 International University Games The 1939 International University Games were organised by the Confederation Internationale des Etudiants (CIE) and held in Monte Carlo, Monaco. At these games a number of Athletic events were contested. An alternative version was held in Vienna, ...

. Tarics was able to escape post-war Soviet-occupied Hungary when his doctoral degree in engineering earned him a teaching fellowship in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. From 1949 to 1951, he served as a professor at Fort Wayne University, after which he took up a professorship at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

. Tarics also established and grew a successful architecture and engineering practice in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. His engineering work led to several patents, including "Stadium Roof, Patent No. 226, 181, Jan. 30, 1973" and "Composite Seismic Isolator, Patent No. 5, 461, 835, Oct. 31, 1995". He worked in the UN Commission on Earthquakes.

Later life

Tarics attended the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

as the oldest living Olympic champion and turned 100 in September 2013. Following the death of

Attilio Pavesi Attilio Pavesi (1 October 1910 – 2 August 2011) was an Italian cyclist who won the individual and team road races at the 1932 Summer Olympics. The same year he placed second in the Giro di Sicilia, and in 1933–35 rode as professional, but wi ...

, Tarics was the oldest living Olympic champion. Tarics died in

, on 21 May 2016 at the age of 102.

References

*
Profile of Sándor Tarics in the San Francisco Gate, August 23, 2008

External links

* 1913 births 2016 deaths Hungarian male water polo players Olympic gold medalists for Hungary in water polo Water polo players at the 1936 Summer Olympics Hungarian centenarians Hungarian emigrants to the United States Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Men centenarians Water polo players from Budapest 20th-century Hungarian people {{Hungary-waterpolo-bio-stub

Biography

Later life

See also

References

External links