Géza Varasdi OAM (6 February 1928 – 4 May 2022) was a Hungarian athlete who mainly competed in the 100 metres. He was a member of the national team of Hungary between 1948 and 1956.Meghalt Varasdi Géza

Biography

Born in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, 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 and ...

, Varasdi competed for Hungary at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

held in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, Finland, where he won the bronze medal in the men's 4 × 100 meters relay with his team mates László Zarándi,

György Csányi György Csányi (7 March 1922 – 13 December 1978) was a Hungarian athlete who mainly competed in the 100 metres. He competed for Hungary at the 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland Finland, officially the Republ ...

and Béla Goldoványi. Together with the same team, he won the gold medal on 29 August 1954 in Bern, at the European Championship of Athletics in the men's 4 × 100 meters relay. When participating at the Olympic Games in Melbourne, 1956, he suffered a crick in his semifinal. From 1956 he lived in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, working as a doctor. On Australia Day January 26, 2013 Dr Gez Varasdi was awarded the Medal of the Order for Australia for his valuable work and service to medicine as a general practitioner. Dr Varasdi's commendation in his Honours of Australia nomination, submitted by Domenica (Mimi) Tamburrino, JP OAM, contained numerous letters of support from his patients who testified that he always work beyond the limits of just being 'a doctor of medicine' but always provided wise counsel, encouragement and generous words of kindness. He treated his patients in the 'old world' tradition of the 'house call' doctor who would reach out without hesitation to visit the sick and the lonely in his area. A true medical doctor whose kind and generous character gave more that the "medicine" he would prescribe. He was highly regarded, respected and sought out by local schools and community groups to 'speak' to students and encourage them to actively participate in sports and have a healthy view of exercising and be active in achieving good health through sports. The OAM was a small way to honour his work, commitment and dedication to his community as a general medical practitioner. Dr Geza Varasdi was a worthy and meritorious doctor with impeccable character to receive such recognition. He was at the time overwhelmed to have received this Award on Australia Day as he was passionate about Australia the nation that embraced him. He is survived by his wife Gianna and three sons.

References

* * * 1928 births 2022 deaths Hungarian male sprinters Athletes from Budapest Olympic bronze medalists for Hungary Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Hungary European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Hungarian Athletics Championships winners 20th-century Hungarian sportsmen {{Hungary-athletics-bio-stub