Jan Gajdoš Explained

Jan Gajdoš
Birth Date:27 December 1903
Birth Place:Brno, Austria-Hungary
Hometown:Prague
Residence:Prague
Death Place:Brno, Czechoslovakia
Discipline:MAG

Jan Gajdoš (27 December 1903 – 19 November 1945) was a Czech gymnast, representing Czechoslovakia. He competed in two Olympic Games and five gymnastics World Championships.

Competitive career

His first Olympics was in 1928, where he took silver in the team competition. Switzerland won the competition. Individually, he won no medals, but he finished fourth in the horizontal bar, and eighth in the rings. At his next Olympics, in 1936, he again won no medals, but the team finished fourth in the team competition.

At the World Championships, he took three golds in the team competition; in 1926, 1930 and 1938.[1] He also took a team silver in 1934. Individually, he took two silver medals in 1926. In 1930, he took overall silver, behind Josip Primožič, and also won bronze in the pommel horse and rings.

In 1934, he won no individual medals, but took sixth place overall.[2] In his last World Championships, in 1938, he won gold both in the individual all-around and floor exercise, as well as top-8 place finishings on 4 of the 5 other apparatuses.

Legacy

An active member of the Sokol organization, during World War II he was an active member of Sokol resistance group. He died shortly after the end of World War II, after being put on a death march by the Nazi Germans.[3]

From 15–16 November 2008, an international gymnastics event was arranged in memory of Gajdoš; Jan Gajdoš Memorial 2008 in Brno.[4]

Notes and References

  1. http://www.sport-komplett.de/sport-komplett/sportarten/t/turnen/hst/29.html Sport-komplett.de - World Championship competitors
  2. http://www.gymmedia.com/aarhus06/history/champsall_AA_men_e.htm GYMmedia - All-around World Champions and medallists
  3. Web site: Olympians Who Were Killed or Missing in Action or Died as a Result of War . https://web.archive.org/web/20200417055433/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/friv/lists.cgi?id=65 . dead . 17 April 2020 . 24 July 2018 . Sports Reference.
  4. http://gymnastika.sokolbrno1.cz/img/MJG08.pdf Jan Gajdoš Memorial 2008