Eugeniusz Lokajski

Full name Eugeniusz Zenon Lokajski
Born 14 December 1908 in Warszawa; Mazowieckie
Died 25 September 1944 in Warszawa; Mazowieckie
Measurements 181 cm / 74 kg
Affiliations Warszawianka

A multi-talented athlete who was adept in a number of track and field disciplines and also as a gymnast, Eugeniusz Lokajski is also known for his contributions, both as a soldier and also as a documenter through his photography, to the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.

Champion of Poland at the javelin in both 1934 and 1935 he recorded a throw of 73.25m in the early summer of 1936 that established him as one the favourites for Berlin. A shoulder injury incurred shortly before the Olympic Games hampered him and he could only finish 7th as a throw of 71m claimed the Olympic title. His shoulder never recovered enough for him to return to serious athletics despite an attempted comeback. He was also a national champion at gymastics in 1934 and 1935.

Conscripted into the Polish Army in 1939 Lokajski served as an infantry commander and was taken prisoner by Soviet forces during the Siege of Brest-Litovsk. He escaped from his captors and returned to his hometown of Warsaw where he ran a photographic business.

He worked as a teacher in one of the illegal “underground universities” set up by the resistance before taking over his late brother’s responsibilities transporting arms and munitions. Lokajski commanded his own platoon of soldiers during the uprising but he was also charged by his commanding officer to use his talents as a photographer and record the events in the streets of Warsaw and he also provided portraits of resistance fighter for use of fake documents. He died in 1944 when caught in an artillery barrage during a trip to collect photographic materials. His body was only found in 1945 after the end of the war. Eugeniusz Lokajski was buried in the “Aleja Zasłużonych” (Avenue of the Meritorious) at the Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw.

Personal Best: JT – 73.27 (1936).

Games/Sport Event Position
1936 Athletics Javelin Throw 7

Jim Kerr

Parameter Value
Full Name James Lancefield "Jim" Kerr
Born 17 August 1940 in Plainfield; New Jersey (USA)
Measurements 182 cm / 73 kg
Country United States / Virgin Islands

Jim Kerr was on the US Olympic team in the modern pentathlon in 1964 but did not compete. He excelled in both swimming and running, and was on state championship teams in both cross-country and swimming at Waukesha South High School in Wisconsin. He later swam at the University of Michigan. After college Kerr competed in fencing competitions and was a competitor at several US national championships. He later settled in the US Virgin Islands, where he continued to compete in fencing and represented the US Virgin Islands as a fencer at the 1984 Olympics. Later in life, Kerr became blind and began sailing for recreation. He then started competing in disabled sailing competitions for the blind, with an aim to sail at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Should Kerr make the US Virgin Islands sailing team for the 2016 Paralympics, it would be a record of sorts. While overlapping the Olympics and Paralympics, and only an alternate in 1964, it would be 52 years since his first appearance at the Olympics in Tokyo. The record for longest time span as an Olympic competitor is 48 years by Japanese equestrien Hiroshi Hoketsu, who competed in 1964, and then not again until 2008, and returned in 2012 at London.

Games/Sport Event Position
1964 Modern Pentathlon Individual/Team DNS
1984 Fencing Individual Épée =61

Alpine World Championships were once held during the Olympics

On Tuesday the World Alpine Skiing Championships get underway in Colorado (USA) towns of Vail and Beaver Creek. From 1948 through 1980, no World Championships in the sport were held in Olympic years, with the Olympic races doubling as World Championships – except for the combined event. This event, which has been on the Olympic Program again since 1988, did produce a World Champion, but not an Olympic Champion. Who are these Olympic “champions”?

Gustavo Thöni (center) twice won the “Olympic” combined event, in 1972 and 1976. He also won three Olympic medals at these Games.

After the combined event was held in both 1936 and 1948, it was abandoned in 1952 to make room for the new giant slalom competition. But as it was still held at the regular World Championships (which were held in even years between Olympics), the combined event returned in 1956. However, it was never an actual event – no separate races were held – but instead conducted on paper only. Based on weighting factors and the time behind the winner of each race, the skiers were awarded points, with the lowest total winning (this format was later replaced by a simpler format with finishing times simply added up). Another difference with the present-day combined event is that it also included the giant slalom, not just the downhill and the slalom. From 1956 through 1980, the medal winners in these events were:

Year Gender Gold NOC Silver NOC Bronze NOC
1956 Men Toni Sailer AUT Charles Bozon FRA Stig Sollander SWE
1956 Women Madeleine Berthod SUI Fieda Dänzer SUI Giuliana Chenal-Minuzzo ITA
1960 Men Guy Périllat FRA Charles Bozon FRA Hans-Peter Lanig GER
1960 Women Anne Heggtveit CAN Sonja Sperl GER Barbi Henneberger GER
1964 Men Ludwig Leitner GER Gerhard Nenning AUT Billy Kidd USA
1964 Women Marielle Goitschel FRA Christl Haas AUT Edith Zimmermann AUT
1968 Men Jean-Claude Killy FRA Dumeng Giovanoli SUI Heinrich Messner AUT
1968 Women Nancy Greene CAN Marielle Goitschel FRA Annie Famose FRA
1972 Men Gustav Thöni ITA Walter Tresch SUI Jim Hunter CAN
1972 Women Annemarie Möser-Pröll AUT Florence Steurer FRA Toril Førland NOR
1976 Men Gustav Thöni ITA Willi Frommelt LIE Greg Jones USA
1976 Women Rosi Mittermaier FRG Danièle Debernard FRA Hanni Wenzel LIE
1980 Men Phil Mahre USA Andreas Wenzel LIE Leonahard Stock AUT
1980 Women Hanni Wenzel LIE Cindy Nelson USA Ingrid Eberle AUT

Many of these are not surprising winners, as Sailer, Killy, Mittermaier and Wenzel medalled in all three events. Others, however, are not known as Olympics heroes. Ludwig Leitner, for example, did not reach the podium on any of the Olympic events, but did achieve three top eight positions. The 1972 bronze medallist, Jim Hunter, didn’t place in the top 10 in any of the three races.

Hanni Wenzel won both of Liechstein’s only two Olympic titles to date in 1980, and could have won a third one if the combined event would have had medal status at the time.