László Szalma

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László Szalma (born October 27, 1957 in Nagymaros , Pest county ) is a former Hungarian long jumper . From 1976 to 1990 he was thirteen times in the finals of the European Indoor Championships, reached ten times the final fight of the eight best jumpers and won six medals.

In 1976, 18-year-old Szalma finished tenth at the European Indoor Championships in Munich with 7.36 m. He won his first medal at the Indoor European Championships in San Sebastián in 1977 . With 7.78 m he was only behind the two Germans Hans Baumgartner (West) and Lutz Franke (East). In 1978 he won the European Indoor Championships in Milan with 7.83 m in front of the Belgian Ronald Desruelles . At the European Athletics Championships in Prague , he retired with 7.53 m in qualification.

In 1980 he jumped 7.55 m at the European Indoor Championships in Sindelfingen and was tenth. In the long jump final of the Olympic Games in Moscow , the jumpers from the USA were missing because of the Olympic boycott . Nevertheless, a high-class competition developed with eight jumpers beyond the eight-meter mark. The winner Lutz Dombrowski before his East German compatriot Frank Paschek , Laslo Szalma missing by 8.13 m than five centimeters's Fourth the bronze medal Valery Pidluschnyjs .

At the Indoor European Championships in 1981 in Grenoble, Szalma was also fourth, and as in Moscow, he was five centimeters short of the bronze medal after 7.90 m. In the outdoor season he won the title at the Universiade . In 1982 he was fifth at the European Indoor Championships in Milan with 7.78 m and was five centimeters behind silver and bronze. At the European Championships in Athens , Szalma was eleventh with 7.74 m.

The following year he won in front of a home crowd at the 1983 in Budapest , he won his second indoor European title after 1978 in front of a home crowd. With 7.95 m he won ahead of his compatriot Gyula Pálóczi . At the World Athletics Championships in Helsinki , Szalma met the best Americans for the first time at international championships. Szalma finished fourth with 8.12 m behind the three Americans Carl Lewis , Jason Grimes and Mike Conley Sr. , with Conley winning the bronze medal only because of the better second best jump.

At the World Indoor Athletics Games in 1985 in Paris-Bercy, the forerunner of the World Indoor Championships, Szalma finished fourth with 7.85 m. Shortly afterwards, he missed out on a better placement at the European Indoor Championships in Piraeus , with the same distance as the winner, because of the worse second-best jump. With 8.15 m he was second behind Pálóczi, who was second behind Jan Leitner in Bercy ; Leitner finished fourth in Piraeus. In the summer of 1985 Szalma jumped his last Hungarian long jump record with 8.30 m. At the Indoor European Championships in Madrid in 1986 , Szalma jumped 8.24 m and won silver behind the Armenian Robert Emmijan, who started for the Soviet Union .

In 1987 he jumped at the European Indoor Championships in Liévin , Szalma jumped 8.07 m and finished fourth. A fortnight later he was sixth with 7.87 m at the World Indoor Championships in Indianapolis . In the 1988 Olympic year he won silver at the European Indoor Championships in Budapest with 8.03 m behind the Dutchman Frans Maas . At the Olympic Games in Seoul six jumpers jumped over the eight-meter mark, Szalma finished sixth with exactly 8.00 m.

In 1989 he was fourth at the European Indoor Championships in The Hague with 8.06 m. At the World Indoor Championships in Budapest won Larry Myrick (USA) before the German Dietmar Haaf . Szalma missed the bronze medal by an inch over Mike Conley with 8.10 m. At the European Indoor Championships in 1990 in Glasgow, Szalma was fifteenth with 7.56 m. He ended his great career after finishing 34th in qualifying at the 1992 Olympic Games .

Szalma was Hungarian national champion in 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985 and 1988, in the hall he won the championship title from 1977 to 1984 and from 1986 to 1990. From 1977 to 1985 he set eight Hungarian national records in the long jump. His last record still stands today (as of 2020). With a height of 1.91 m, Szalma had a competition weight of 78 kg.

Personal best

  • Long jump: 8.30 m, July 7, 1985, Budapest
    • Hall: 8.24 m, February 22, 1986, Madrid

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Szalma, László
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hungarian long jumper
DATE OF BIRTH October 27, 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH Nagymaros ( Pest County )