Juris O. "George" Dancis (28 November 1932 – 20 April 2021) was an Australian

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player of Latvian descent who represented Australia at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

. Born in Latvia, Dancis was raised in the district of Vecāķi. Dancis was married to Liesma, and they had a son, Pēteris. Dancis' younger brother, Miķelis Dancis, was also a member of the Australian Basketball team. Dancis and his family resided in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, South Australia. On 13 September 2000, Dancis and his brother Mike were awarded the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

. In 2006, he was inducted into the

Australian Basketball Hall of Fame The Australian Basketball Hall of Fame was instituted by the National Basketball League (NBL) in 1998 as the ''NBL Hall of Fame'' as part of their 20th season celebrations. The NBL initiated the Hall of Fame to recognise the outstanding players ...

References

1932 births 2021 deaths Basketball players at the 1956 Summer Olympics Latvian emigrants to Australia Olympic basketball players for Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Basketball players from Adelaide Basketball players from Riga Latvian World War II refugees {{Australia-basketball-bio-stub