László Szollás

László (Ladislaus) Szollás (13 November 1907 in Budapest, Hungary – 4 October 1980) was a Hungarian world champion and Olympic medalist pair skater.

László Szollás
Rotter and Szollás in 1933
Personal information
Full nameLászló Szollás
Country represented Hungary
Born(1907-11-13)13 November 1907
Budapest
Died4 October 1980(1980-10-04) (aged 72)
Budapest
Former partnerEmília Rotter
Olympic medal record
Figure skating
Representing  Hungary
1932 Lake Placid Pairs
1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Pairs

Early life

Szollas was Jewish.[1][2][3][4] He attended the Ludovika Military Academy in the Horthy era..

Figure skating career

With partner Emília Rotter he won the World Figure Skating Championship four times in five years (1931, 1933, 1934, and 1935), and they were the 1932 World silver medalists.[5] They were also the 1934 European Champions, and 1930 and 1931 silver medalists.[5]

They represented Hungary at the 1932 Winter Olympics and at the 1936 Winter Olympics, winning two bronze medals.[5]

Later life
László Szollás commemorative plaque in Budapest District XII, Győri Street No 2/c

Subsequently he fought against the Soviet Union on the eastern front in WW2. He became a prisoner of war and was imprisoned in a POW camp for 4 years in Siberia.[6] Upon returning to Hungary the Hungarian Stalinist government nationalized nearly all of his assets, including a large rental apartment building in Budapest's 7th district..

After retirement, he attended Semmelweis Medical School in Budapest and earned a medical degree at the Péter Pázmány University and became a sports medicine doctor at the Sport Korhaz (Hospital for Professional Sports) in Budapest and a surgeon at the Országos Sportegészségügyi Intézet in Budapest.[7] After the war he returned to Hungary and worked as a physician in the National Institute of Physical Education and Sports Hygiene in Budapest and served as President of the Hungarian Skating Association.[7]

Hall of Fame

He and his partner, Emília Rotter, were elected to the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.[4][7]

Competitive highlights

(with Rotter)

Event 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936
Winter Olympic Games3rd3rd
World Championships5th1st2nd1st1st1st
European Championships2nd2nd1st
Hungarian Championships1st1st1st1st1st1st

See also

References
  1. Wiener, Julie. "Jews in the Olympics". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 2020-01-14.
  2. Jews in the Gym: Judaism, Sports, and Athletics. Purdue University Press. 2012. Retrieved 2020-01-14.
  3. Bob Wechsler (2008). Day by Day in Jewish Sports History. KTAV Publishing House, Inc. Retrieved 2020-01-14.
  4. "Laszlo Szollas". Jewishsports.net. Retrieved 2020-01-14.
  5. "Historical Dictionary of Figure Skating - James R. Hines - Google Books". Books.google.com. 2011-04-22. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  6. Hilary Evans; Arild Gjerde; Jeroen Heijmans & Bill Mallon. "László Szollás Biography and Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
  7. Guard, Skate (2018-02-14). "Skate Guard: Two Hits Of Hungary: The Emília Rotter And László Szollás Story". Skateguard1.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
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