Jānis Dimza

Jānis Dimza (1 November 1906, Ipiķi parish – c. 1942) was a Latvian decathlete. He placed fourth at the European Championships in 1934, and challenged for medals at the Olympic Games in 1932 until he injured himself in the pole vault.

Jānis Dimza
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Latvia
International University Games
1930 DarmstadtPentathlon

Career

Dimza placed second in the pentathlon at the 1930 International University Games in Darmstadt.[1][2] The pentathlon had been discontinued as an Olympic event after 1924,[3] so at the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles he only competed in the decathlon.[4] He had scored 7789 points in that event in 1931,[1][5] and was one of many favorites in what was expected to be a close competition.[5] He was a close fourth after seven events; in the eighth event, pole vault, he cleared 3.50 m to move up to second place, but landed badly and injured his leg. He was unable to continue.[5]

Dimza returned to competition once his leg healed, placing 4th at the 1934 European Championships in Turin.[4][5] At the 1936 Olympics he again failed to finish, retiring from the competition after the fourth event.[4] In total, he was Latvian champion 36 times in a variety of events.[1] In 1932 he was awarded the Order of the Three Stars 5th Class.[6]

He died in a Soviet prison camp during World War II.[7]

References
  1. "Jānis Dimza" (in Latvian). Latvian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  2. "WORLD STUDENT GAMES (PRE-UNIVERSIADE)". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  3. Rothschild, Richard (27 July 2012). "Ranking the five best and five worst Summer Olympic Games". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  4. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Jānis Dimza". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  5. Jukola, Martti (1935). Huippu-urheilun historia (in Finnish). Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö.
  6. "Triju Zvaigžņu ordenim 90: apbalvojuma dzimšana, nebūšanas un pārvērtības". LA.LV (in Latvian). Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  7. "Olympians Who Were Killed or Missing in Action or Died as a Result of War". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2018.


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