Jan Gajdoš (27 December 1903 – 19 November 1945) was a Czech gymnast, representing Czechoslovakia. He competed in two Olympic Games and five gymnastics World Championships.
Gymnastics career Gajdoš's first Olympic Games was in 1928, where he took silver in the team competition. Switzerland won the competition. Individually, he won no medals, but he finished fourth in the parallel bars tied with his teammate Bedřich Šupčík, twelfth in the vault, tenth in the horse, eighth in the rings and thirteenth all-around. At his next Olympics, in 1936, he again won no medals, but the team finished fourth in the team competition.
At the World Championships, he took three golds in the team competition in 1926, 1930 and 1938.Sport-komplett.de - World Championship competitors He also took a team silver in 1934. Individually, he took two silver medals in 1926. In 1930, he took overall silver, behind Josip Primožič, and also won bronze in the pommel horse and rings.
In 1934, he won no individual medals, but took sixth place overall.GYMmedia - All-around World Champions and medallists In his last World Championships, in 1938, he won gold both in the individual all-around and floor exercise, as well as top-8 place finishings on 4 of the 5 other apparatuses.
Death and legacy An active member of the Sokol organization during World War II, he was an active member of the Sokol resistance group. He died shortly after the end of World War II, from the effects of being put on a death march by the Nazi Germans.
From 15–16 November 2008, an international gymnastics event was arranged in memory of Gajdoš; Jan Gajdoš Memorial 2008 in Brno.Jan Gajdoš Memorial 2008
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