Paulina Radziulytė

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]

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)

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. "KALVAITIS, GEORGE C ... to KALVE, IMANTS K". Social Security Death Master File. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  3. 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. 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.
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