László Szalma

László Szalma (born 27 October 1957) is a retired Hungarian long jumper. He won six medals at the European Indoor Championships—two gold, three silver and one bronze—and finished fourth at the 1980 Olympic Games and the 1983 World Championships. His career best jump of 8.30 metres, achieved in July 1985 in Budapest, is the current Hungarian record.

Career

He was born in Nagymaros.{{World Athletics}}. Retrieved on 7 February 2009. He won a Hungarian title for the first time in 1977, taking the national indoor championship,{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/nc/huni.htm|title=Hungarian Indoor Championships|work=GBR Athletics|publisher=Athletics Weekly|accessdate=7 February 2009}} and first made his mark in international athletics at the 1977 European Indoor Championships. With a jump of 7.78 metres he won the bronze medal.{{cite web|url=http://www.maik-richter.de/results/indoor/europe/1977/m77_09.html|title=1977 European Indoor Championships, men's long jump final|publisher=Die Leichtatletik-Statistik-Seite|accessdate=7 February 2009}} At the 1978 European Indoor Championships the next year he won the gold medal with a jump of 7.83 metres.{{cite web|url=http://www.maik-richter.de/results/indoor/europe/1978/m78_09.html|title=1978 European Indoor Championships, men's long jump final|publisher=Die Leichtatletik-Statistik-Seite|accessdate=7 February 2009}} In 1980 he competed at the Olympic Games in Moscow, finishing fourth.{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/sz/laszlo-szalma-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418101857/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/sz/laszlo-szalma-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 April 2020|title=László Szalma|publisher=Sports-Reference.com|accessdate=7 February 2009}} Then, despite jumping even better at the 1981 European Indoor Championships, Szalma only finished fourth with 7.90 metres, eleven centimetres behind the winner Rolf Bernhard.{{cite web|url=http://www.maik-richter.de/results/indoor/europe/1981/m81_09.html|title=1981 European Indoor Championships, men's long jump final|publisher=Die Leichtatletik-Statistik-Seite|accessdate=7 February 2009}} In the summer he won the gold medal at the 1981 Summer Universiade.{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/wsgm.htm|title=World Student Games (Universiade - Men)|publisher=Athletics Weekly|work=GBR Athletics|accessdate=7 February 2009}} At the 1982 European Indoor Championships, there was an eleven centimetre gap between first and seventh place; Szalma finished in between at a fifth place.{{cite web|url=http://www.maik-richter.de/results/indoor/europe/1982/m82_10.html|title=1982 European Indoor Championships, men's long jump final|publisher=Die Leichtatletik-Statistik-Seite|accessdate=7 February 2009}} At the 1982 European Championships he dropped slightly to an eleventh place.

In 1983 Szalma competed at the inaugural World Championships. He leapt 7.97 metres to progress from the qualifying round,{{cite web|url=http://www2.iaaf.org/results/past/WCH83/data/M/LJ/Rq.html |title=Results - LONG JUMP - Men - Qualification |publisher=IAAF |accessdate=7 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090329023019/http://www2.iaaf.org/results/past/WCH83/data/M/LJ/Rq.html |archivedate=29 March 2009 }} and finished fourth in the final with 8.12 metres. He missed the 1984 Summer Olympics due to the Soviet-led 1984 Summer Olympics boycott, but repeated the fourth place at the 1985 World Indoor Games. During the 1984–85 indoor season he also won the silver medal at the European Indoor Championships. It was a very tight competition, with Szalma tying the winner, his compatriot Gyula Pálóczi, on 8.15 metres but with Pálóczi winning on countback. Also, Szalma was one centimetre ahead of bronze medalist Sergey Layevskiy and two centimetres ahead of fourth placer Ján Leitner.{{cite web|url=http://www.maik-richter.de/results/indoor/europe/1985/m85_22.html|title=1985 European Indoor Championships, men's long jump final|publisher=Die Leichtatletik-Statistik-Seite|accessdate=7 February 2009}} In the summer he jumped a career best of 8.30 metres, in July in Budapest. The result is the Hungarian record,{{cite web|url=http://www.athletix.org/Statistics/natrljmen.html|title=National Records, top 30 countries by event: Men's Long Jump|publisher=The Athletics Site|date=7 September 2007|accessdate=7 February 2009|url-status=usurped|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212005226/http://www.athletix.org/statistics/natrljmen.html|archivedate=12 December 2008}} and also the best result in Europe that year.{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/tp/eurm.htm|title=European Top Performers 1980-2005: Men (Outdoor)|publisher=Athletics Weekly|work=GBR Athletics|accessdate=7 February 2009}} At the end of the season he finished third at the 1985 World Cup, tying with but losing to Robert Emmiyan at 8.09 metres.{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/wp.htm|title=IAAF World Cup in Athletics|publisher=Athletics Weekly|work=GBR Athletics|accessdate=7 February 2009}}

At the 1986 European Indoor Championships Szalma won his second silver medal in a row, but this time with a jump of 8.24 metres,{{cite web|url=http://www.maik-richter.de/results/indoor/europe/1986/m86_21.html|title=1986 European Indoor Championships, men's long jump final|publisher=Die Leichtatletik-Statistik-Seite|accessdate=7 February 2009}} which was a career best on the indoor track. In 1987 there were two indoor championships, with Szalma finishing fourth at the European{{cite web|url=http://www.maik-richter.de/results/indoor/europe/1987/m87_22.html|title=1987 European Indoor Championships, men's long jump final|publisher=Die Leichtatletik-Statistik-Seite|accessdate=7 February 2009}} and sixth at the 1987 World Indoor Championships. In 1988 he won his last silver medal at the European Indoor Championships, finishing three centimetres behind Frans Maas and three ahead of Giovanni Evangelisti.{{cite web|url=http://www.maik-richter.de/results/indoor/europe/1988/m88_22.html|title=1988 European Indoor Championships, men's long jump final|publisher=Die Leichtatletik-Statistik-Seite|accessdate=7 February 2009}} In the summer he competed at the 1988 Olympic Games, finishing sixth both in the qualifying round and in the final. In 1989 he finished fourth at both the European{{cite web|url=http://www.maik-richter.de/results/indoor/europe/1989/m89_21.html|title=1989 European Indoor Championships, men's long jump final|publisher=Die Leichtatletik-Statistik-Seite|accessdate=7 February 2009}} and the 1989 World Indoor Championships.

At his final European Indoor Championships in 1990, Szalma only managed a fifteenth place.{{cite web|url=http://www.maik-richter.de/results/indoor/europe/1990/m90_22.html|title=1990 European Indoor Championships, men's long jump final|publisher=Die Leichtatletik-Statistik-Seite|accessdate=7 February 2009}} At his third Olympic participation, two years later, he did not manage to reach the final of the long jump competition.

He became the Hungarian long jump champion in 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985 and 1988, rivalling with Béla Bakosi, Gyula Pálóczi, Zsolt Szabó and Csaba Almási.{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/nc/hun.htm|title=Hungarian Championships|work=GBR Athletics|publisher=Athletics Weekly|accessdate=7 February 2009}} He also became Hungarian indoor champion in the years 1977 through 1990, except for one year, as Gyula Pálóczi won in 1985. Szalma stands {{convert|1.91|m|ftin|0|abbr=on}} tall, and during his active career he weighed {{convert|90|kg|lb}}.

László Szalma

Career

International competitions

References

External links