Sándor Tarics

The native form of this personal name is Tarics Sándor. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Sándor Tarics (23 September 1913 – 21 May 2016) was a Hungarian water polo player who won a gold medal in the 1936 Summer Olympics.

Sándor Tarics
Tarics in 2012
Personal information
Born	23 September 1913 Budapest, Austria-Hungary
Died	21 May 2016(2016-05-21) (aged 102) San Francisco, California, United States
Medal record Men's water polo Representing  Hungary Olympic Games 1936 Berlin Team competition

Biography

Born in Budapest, Tarics was part of the Hungarian team which won the gold medal, pushing Germany into second.^[1] He played two matches, and scored two goals. He also won gold medals with the Hungarian team at the 1933, 1935 and 1937 International University Games as well as the unofficial, German-led 1939 International University Games.^[2]

Tarics was able to escape post-war Soviet-occupied Hungary when his doctoral degree in engineering earned him a teaching fellowship in the United States. From 1949 to 1951, he served as a professor at Fort Wayne University, after which he took up a professorship at the California Institute of Technology.^{[citation needed]} Tarics also established and grew a successful architecture and engineering practice in San Francisco.^[1] His engineering work led to several patents, including "Stadium Roof, Patent No. 226, 181, Jan. 30, 1973" and "Composite Seismic Isolator, Patent No. 5, 461, 835, Oct. 31, 1995".^{[citation needed]}

He worked in the UN Commission on Earthquakes.^{[citation needed]}

Later life

Tarics attended the 2012 London Olympics as the oldest living Olympic champion^[1] and turned 100 in September 2013.^[3] Following the death of Attilio Pavesi,^[4] Tarics was the oldest living Olympic champion.^[1][5]

Tarics died in San Francisco, United States, on 21 May 2016 at the age of 102.^[6]

See also

• Hungary men's Olympic water polo team records and statistics
• List of Olympic champions in men's water polo
• List of Olympic medalists in water polo (men)
• List of centenarians (sportspeople)
• Composite Seismic Isolator, Patent No. 5, 461, 835, Oct. 31, 1995