Henrik RIPSZAM

The son of a track and field athlete and orienteer, Henrik Ripszám, Jr. was exposed to competitive sport at an early age and trained in long distance walking and running events, as well as orienteering, throughout his young life. Concurrently he attended numerous art schools, and eventually an applied arts college in Budapest, studying painting. By 1912 he had a favorable reputation in the Hungarian art world and a national championship title in the 30 kilometer walk, which led him to travel to that year’s Summer Olympic Games in Stockholm at his own expense. In the 10 kilometer walk he finished eighth in his opening heat of thirteen competitors and did not advance. He also started in the marathon, but was among the half of the runners who dropped out of the race due to the extreme heat.

Ripszám served in the Austrian-Hungarian army during World War I and was deployed to the Eastern/Polish front, but was captured in 1915 and did not return home until the end of the conflict. After the war he remained active in orienteering and helped design his nation’s first stamp depicting sports, which was an effort to support the Hungarian delegation to the 1924 Summer Olympics. Ripszám’s efforts succeeding in providing sufficient funding for the Hungarian Athletics Association, who were previously unable to fully finance the journey to Paris for the track and field athletes. In 1926 he emigrated to Sweden, and then Britain, and spent the rest of his life in England as an artist specializing in paint and sculpture, although many of his works were destroying during the bombing of World War II. An annual orienteering event is held in his native Hungary, as well as his adopted home of Ockley, Surrey, in his honor.

Personal Best: Mar – unknown.