József Remecz (3 March 1907 – 17 May 1989) was a Hungarian

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

er. Remecz broke the European record in men's discus throw several times and was the first European to break 50 metres. He was one of the favorites at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held du ...

, but only placed ninth.

Career

Hungary became Europe's leading discus throw power during the early 1930s, with the emergence of throwers like Remecz, István Donogán and Endre Madarász. Remecz first broke the European record in 1931, throwing 48.83 m in

Debrecen Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...

; his mark was the best in the world that year. Remecz broke the European record three more times in 1932, eventually reaching 50.73 m in

Dunakeszi Dunakeszi () is a city in Pest County, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary. It is located to the north of Budapest on the left bank of the Danube. Politics The current mayor of Dunakeszi is Csaba Dióssi (Fidesz-KDNP). The local Municipal As ...

; he was the first European to break 50 metres. He was one of the leading favorites at the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, but he underperformed and only reached 45.02 m, placing ninth and failing to qualify for the final rounds. Remecz's European record was broken by Sweden's Harald "Slaktarn" Andersson in 1934. Remecz was Hungarian champion in 1932, 1933 and 1934 and placed fourth at the inaugural

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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 city is main ...

, behind Andersson,

Paul Winter Paul Winter (born August 31, 1939) is an American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He is a pioneer of world music and earth music, which interweaves the voices of the wild with instrumental voices from classical, jazz and world music. The ...

and Donogán. Although Remecz never improved his personal best again, he remained in good shape for a long time, ranking in the world's top 25 thirteen times between 1931 and 1944.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Remecz, Jozsef 1907 births 1989 deaths Athletes from Budapest Hungarian male discus throwers Athletes (track and field) at the 1932 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Hungary 20th-century Hungarian sportsmen