Paulina Radziulytė

Paulina Radziulytė
Radziulytė with the Lithuanian basketball team at EuroBasket 1938
Personal information
NationalityLithuanian
Born(1905-02-14)14 February 1905[1][2]
Velikiye Luki, Russian Empire[3]
Died19 June 1986(1986-06-19) (aged 81)[2]
Sharon, Massachusetts, U.S.
Sport
SportAthletics, basketball
ClubLietuvos fizinio lavinimosi sąjunga (LFLS)

Paulina Radziulytė-Kalvaitienė (14 February 1905 – 19 June 1986) was a Lithuanian athlete and basketball player. She was the first woman representative of Lithuania at the Olympic Games,[4] and a silver medalist at the EuroBasket Women 1938. She was one of the most famous and accomplished sportswomen in inter-war Lithuania.[5]

As an athlete, she competed in various events, but mostly in sprints and middle-distance running. She competed in the women's 800 metres at the 1928 Summer Olympics.[6] She was a Lithuanian champion in athletics 27 times and achieved Lithuanian national records 26 times.[3] Five times (in 1927, 1928, 1934, 1936, and 1937) she was Lithuanian champion in women's basketball with the LFLS team.[3] With the LFLS team she also won gold in women's basketball at the first Lithuanian National Olympics in July 1938.[7] A member of the Lithuanian team, she won silver at the EuroBasket Women 1938.[3]

During World War II, she retreated to Germany and moved to Switzerland and Australia, eventually settling in Boston, Massachusetts in 1958.[8] In 1961–1981, she worked as a teacher at a Lithuanian school and was active in scouting. She directed school's plays and published a collection of plays in 1976.[8]

Lithuanian athletics champion

Radziulytė won gold in the following events at the Lithuanian Athletics Championships:[3]

National records

Radziulytė held the following national records:[3]

  • 60 metres: three times, from 8.5 seconds in 1926 to 8.1 seconds in 1929
  • 100 metres: four times, from 14.9 seconds in 1924 to 13.3 seconds in 1935
  • 200 metres: four times, from 29.4 seconds in 1927 to 27.9 seconds in 1934
  • 400 metres: three times, from 1:13.7 in 1923 to 1:07.4 in 1932
  • 800 metres: twice, from 2:46.3 in 1928 to 2:45.2 in 1929
  • 4 × 100 metres relay: 57.2 seconds in 1927
  • Long jump: 4.32 metres in 1926
  • High jump: twice, 1.30 and 1.31 metres in 1927
  • Shot put: four times, from 7.60 metres in 1924 to 9.04 metres in 1931
  • Javelin throw: 21.62 metres in 1924
  • Triathlon (100 metres, long jump, and shot put): 939 points in 1935

References

  1. ^ Sports-Reference.com and Lietuvos sporto enciklopedija give her birth month as November. The U.S. Social Security Death Index has her birth month as February. Likely, the confusion is caused by a mix up between Roman numeral II and 11.
  2. ^ a b "KALVAITIS, GEORGE C ... to KALVE, IMANTS K". Social Security Death Master File. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Karoblis, Povilas; et al., eds. (2013). "Radziulytė, Paulina". Lietuvos sporto enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Vol. II. Lietuvos sporto informacijos centras. pp. 432–433. ISBN 978-609-413-003-8.
  4. ^ "First female competitors at the Olympics by country". Olympedia. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  5. ^ Jakubavičienė, Ingrida (2012). "Moterys Lietuvos sporto arenoje XX a. 3–4-ajame dešimtmetyje: pasirinktas ar primestas vaidmuo". Istorija. Mokslo darbai (in Lithuanian). 85. ISSN 1392-0456.
  6. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Paula Radziulytė Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  7. ^ Šniaukštaitė, Erika (2015). Lietuvos tautinė olimpiada 1938 m. (PDF) (Master's) (in Lithuanian). Vytautas Magnus University. p. 52.
  8. ^ a b Kneitienė, Vilija; et al., eds. (2002). "Radziulytė, Paulina". Jungtinių Amerikos Valstijų lietuviai (in Lithuanian). Vol. II. Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas. p. 152. ISBN 5-420-01513-7.