Jiří Skobla

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Skobla as a guest at the GDR indoor championships in 1957

Jiří Skobla (born April 16, 1930 in Prague ; † November 18, 1978 ) was a Czechoslovak shot putter .

His winning streak began at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki , where he was ninth with 15.92 m. On October 11 of the same year, he was the first European to cross the 17-meter mark in Prague with 17.12 m. By 1957 he improved the European record in the shot put another five times. On August 24, 1957, he reached 18.01 m in Prague, making it the first European 18-meter jumper.

At the European Championships in 1954 in Bern , Skobla lived up to his role as favorite and won with 17.20 m ahead of Oto Grigalka and Heino Heinaste , both of whom competed for the Soviet Union. Also at the Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956 , Skobla was the best European. With 17.65 m he won bronze behind the Americans Parry O'Brien with 18.57 m and Bill Nieder with 18.18 m.

In 1958 at the European Championships in Stockholm , four shot putters exceeded the 17-meter mark. The Brit Arthur Rowe won with 17.78 m ahead of Wiktor Lipsnis from the Soviet Union with 17.47 m. Skobla won bronze with 17.12 m, ahead of the German Hermann Lingnau with 17.07 m and the Italian Silvano Meconi with 16.98 m. Silvano Meconi replaced Skobla as the European record holder in 1959.

At the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960 , Skobla was ninth with 17.39 m. At the European Championships in Belgrade in 1962 , Skobla finished sixth with 17.87 m. On October 13, 1963 he set up his personal best with 18.52 m in Bucharest .

His last major success was at the European Indoor Games in Dortmund in 1966 , where he won the bronze medal with 18.08 m behind the Hungarian Vilmos Varjú (19.05 m) and Dieter Hoffmann from the GDR (18.25 m).

Jiří Skobla was 1.86 m tall and weighed 120 kg during his playing days. His father was the weightlifter and Olympic champion Jaroslav Skobla .

literature

  • Ekkehard zur Megede: The Modern Olympic Century, 1896–1996: Track and Field Athletics. German Society for Athletics Documentation, Berlin 1999.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Skobla, Jiří
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czechoslovak shot putter
DATE OF BIRTH April 16, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Prague
DATE OF DEATH November 18, 1978