Gubiyan, Ivan

Gymnastics

Born in 1923 in Bjelovar ( Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes ). His friends said that since childhood, Ivan loved to climb trees and jump fences. These childhood pranks allowed him to reveal gymnastic talent, so from the age of 14 he began to participate in the activities of the local Sokol movement . Quite quickly, he progressed and prepared for a trip to the 1940 Olympics, but it was canceled due to World War II. As a result, World War II interrupted his gymnastics classes, but he learned to throw a hammer. Since then, Ivan from gymnastic exercises only performed the usual somersault.

Hammer Throw

Ivan Gubiyan took up hammer throwing after he saw similar competitions among soldiers during the war. Ivan's mentor was the legendary athlete, hammer thrower Pedro Goich from Zagreb, who became one of Ivan's best friends. After the war, Gubiyan joined the Partizan sports society, of which he was a member until he was very old. In 1982, he even demonstrated his strength by throwing a hammer at 48.94 meters.

With a height of 172 cm and a mass of 83 kg, he was regarded by many as a weak athlete, but he managed to turn his shortcomings into strong qualities: before throwing, he made four turns, and not three, as many athletes did. Four turns became Ivan's “calling card”. When he was told that it was necessary to make three turns and take Hungarian athletes as an example, he answered: “See how tall they are 2 meters, and I’m more than a meter. I can not imitate and win. ” In 1946, he won the hammer throw at the Balkan Track and Field Games (he also won in 1953 and 1955); also in 1948, 1949, 1950, 1952 and 1953 he won the national championship. Silver medalist at the 1951 Mediterranean Games. He played for Yugoslavia 27 times at the European, World and Olympic Games.

In 1948, Ivan spoke at the London Olympics: throwing a hammer at 54.27 meters, he won the silver medal of the Olympics, losing to Hungarian Imre Nemeth - the coach and father of the future Olympic champion in javelin throwing Milkos Nemeth . Ivan was well acquainted with the Nemetov family and was friends with them. During the award ceremony, Ivan, having received his silver medal, jumped off the podium, doing a somersault, which the audience met with applause. Later, Ivan took part in the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki , but there he was only ninth. He completed his career as an athlete in 1955.

National record: 56.27 m (established in 1947). Personal record: 59.69 m. In total, he set five personal records.

Coach

Until 1991, the four-turn throw technique was effective among athletes, allowing them to set world records. Gubiyan became a coach for many famous athletes: Kresimir Rachich , Zvonko Bezyak , Daniela Jankovic , Zoran Lonchar . Gubiyan’s record was broken by Racic in 1955, throwing a hammer at 60.28 m.

Personal life

Ivan was married to Rozika, Hermin's daughter and son Zvonko were born in marriage; Ivan also had two grandchildren, Zvonko’s children. In 2007, Ivan's wife died, which was a blow to him. He spent the last days of his life at the Belgrade Military Medical Academy , where he died on the morning of January 4, 2009 .

• Trideset Godina 48-78 Athletic Savez Srbye Beograd 1981.
• Text by the occasion of the death of Ivan Gubiјan Sports journal Beograd 5. Decombar 2009.
• Encyclopedia to the physicist of the culture ЈLZ Zagreb 1975. Volume 1 p. 697

• Ivan Gubiyan - Olympic statistics at Sports-Reference.com