József Ágoston Sir (born Schier; 28 April 1912 – 22 September 1996) was a Hungarian sprinter. He won three medals at the 1934 European Championships and was a four-time International University Games gold medallist.

Career

Sir won three medals, two silvers and a bronze, at the inaugural

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

in 1934. He won silver in the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

behind

Chris Berger Christiaan David "Chris" Berger (27 April 1911 – 12 September 1965) was a Dutch athlete, competing in the sprints. Career Berger was a football player and changed to running after winning a 100 national title among footballers. In 1930 he ...

of the Netherlands, with both clocking 21.5. In the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

he ran 10.7 and placed third behind Berger (10.6) and Germany's Erich Borchmeyer. He won his third medal in the

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the indiv ...

with the Hungarian team, which ran 41.4 and lost only to Germany. Sir won three gold medals at the 1935 International University Games in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, running 10.8 and 21.6 for 100 and 200 metres and 41.6 with the Hungarian relay team. At the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

he advanced to the semi-finals in the

; he placed last in his semi-final and was eliminated. In the

he went out in the quarterfinals, and the Hungarian relay team failed to qualify for the final. Sir won four more medals at the International University Games in 1939. There were two competing meetings that year, in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

; Sir participated in the Vienna meet, winning gold in the 100 metres (10.7), silver in the 200 metres (21.9) and bronze with the 4 × 100 metres relay team. He won another bronze in the 10 × 200 metres relay, a one-off event. Sir was Hungarian champion at both 100 and 200 metres in 1934, 1935 and 1939. In addition, in 1934 he won the

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the offi ...

100 yards The 100-yard dash is a track and field sprint event of . It was part of the Commonwealth Games until 1970, and was included in the triathlon of the Olympics in 1904. It is not generally used in international events, replaced by the 100-m ...

in 9.9. His best time for 100 metres was 10.4, which he ran in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

on 1 July 1934; it was a Hungarian record, and remained so for more than thirty years. Sir served in the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

Council from 1964 to 1984. He proposed the IAAF Technical Aid Programme, which sought to develop the sport, and became its first director when it was approved.

Competition record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sir, Jozsef 1912 births 1996 deaths Athletes from Budapest Hungarian male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Hungary European Athletics Championships medalists Hungarian Athletics Championships winners 20th-century Hungarian sportsmen