Tsvetko, Rudolph

Born in the family of police officer Janez Tsvetko in Senzec, he moved with his family to Ljubljana as a child, where he graduated from elementary school. He graduated from high school in Trieste, after graduation he served in the 16th Hungarian (Croatian) infantry regiment in Zagreb (Belovar). From 1900 to 1913 he served in the regiment, rising to the rank of lieutenant. In 1904 he began to engage in fencing in the training gym in Wiener Neustadt, from 1905 he was an instructor in saber fencing, from 1908 to 1912 he was the main teacher of fencing.

In 1912 he participated in the Olympic Games in Stockholm: in the individual championship Rudolf dropped out in the first round, but in the team championship with the Austrian team he won silver medals (Hungarians became champions). After retiring from the army, he continued to work as a teacher in a public school in Goritsa. At the beginning of World War I he was again mobilized into the army, rose to the rank of captain in the same 16th Infantry Regiment. Awarded the Bronze Medal of Merit.

After the war, Rudolph continued to serve in the police, rising to the rank of colonel in 1926. He retired and headed the fencing section of the Illyria Sports Club, influencing the development of sports between the world wars. After the Second World War, Tsvetko took up the education of young athletes in the Tabor club and got a job in the Slovenian Fencers Union. He was a fencing instructor at the Academy of Theater Arts and the Institute of Physical Culture in Ljubljana. For his contribution he was awarded numerous medals.

In 2012, he was posthumously admitted to the Hall of Slovenian sports heroes.

• Enciklopedija Slovenije, sv "Cvetko, Rudolf"
• Rudolf Cvetko: zbornik, ur. Tomaž Pavlin, Pomembne osebnosti slovenskega športa, ur. Rajko Šugman (Ljubljana, 2002).

• Rudolph Tsvetko - Olympic statistics at Sports-Reference.com
• Databaseolympics.com Profile