Visvaldis Melderis (19 January 1915 – 14 July 1944) was a Latvian basketball player. Melderis won a gold medal at the 1935 EuroBasket competition, becoming the first European champion. He participated also at 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 at the 1937 EuroBasket and

EuroBasket 1939 The 1939 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1939, was the third FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA. Eight national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) took par ...

Career

Visvaldis Melderis was born on 19 January 1915 in

Jelgava Jelgava (; german: Mitau, ; see also other names) is a state city in central Latvia about southwest of Riga with 55,972 inhabitants (2019). It is the largest town in the region of Zemgale (Semigalia). Jelgava was the capital of the united Duch ...

. He graduated Jelgava 2nd. gymnasium and was drafted into

Latvian Army The Latvian Land Forces ( lv, Sauszemes spēki, SzS) together with the Latvian National Guard form the land warfare branch of the Latvian National Armed Forces. Since 2007, land forces are organized as a fully professional standing army. Mission ...

. While in the army he started to play basketball for army team

Rīgas ASK Rīgas Armijas Sporta Klubs was a professional basketball club that was based in Riga, Latvia. History Rīgas ASK was founded in 1931, and started playing in the Latvian Basketball Championship. In the years that Latvia was controlled by the Sovi ...

. He twice became Latvian champion with Rīgas ASK (1939, 1940). He was a captain of

Latvian national basketball team The Latvia men's national basketball team ( lv, Latvijas basketbola izlase) represents Latvia in international basketball. They are organized and run by the Latvian Basketball Association. Latvia has reached the European Basketball Championship ...

from 1938 until 1940. He continued to play basketball during period of

Nazi occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...

and became Latvian champion for the third time in 1942 playing for RDKA team. Overall he played 40 games in the national basketball team. He also tried other sports like

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

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 ...

. In the Latvian track and field championship in 1934 he won bronze medal in

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 ...

.Guntis Keisels. Latvijas basketbola vēsture. Jumava, 1998. 305. lpp. . As a former

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non ...

of Latvian Army Melderis was conscripted into

Latvian Legion The Latvian Legion ( lv, Latviešu leģions) was a formation of the German Waffen-SS during World War II. Created in 1943, it consisted primarily of ethnic Latvian personnel.Gerhard P. Bassler, ''Alfred Valdmanis and the politics of survival'', 20 ...

in 1943 and deployed to Eastern front as a part of the

19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian) __NOTOC__ The 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian) (german: 19. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (lettische Nr. 2), lv, 19. SS grenadieru divīzija (latviešu Nr. 2)) was an infantry division of the Waffen-SS during World War ...

. He took part in many battles and was killed in action during defensive battles near Latvian border around

Opochka Opochka (russian: Опо́чка) is a town and the administrative center of Opochetsky District in Pskov Oblast, Russia, located on the Velikaya River, south of Pskov, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: ; 9,902 (2019 estimat ...

Pskov Oblast Pskov Oblast (russian: Пско́вская о́бласть, ') is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the west of the country. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melderis, Visvaldis 1915 births 1944 deaths Sportspeople from Jelgava Basketball players at the 1936 Summer Olympics Latvian men's basketball players Olympic basketball players of Latvia Latvian Waffen-SS personnel Centers (basketball) Latvian military personnel killed in World War II