Assis Naban

In the 1930s and 1940s Brazilian track and field athlete Assis Naban excelled in the hammer throw. Naban’s first international success came at the 1935 South American Championships where he won silver, finishing just three centimetres behind Antonio Barticevic. His performance earned him a place at the 1936 Berlin Olympics but he failed to advance from the qualification round. A year later, however, he redeemed himself by winning gold in the hammer at the South American Championships in São Paulo. He followed up his performance with silver at the 1939 championships, before winning another gold in 1941. Naban was also the Brazilian national champion in the hammer throw in 1945 and 1946. He later moved to the United States where he lived in Palm Beach, Florida until his death in 1998 at the age of 92.

Personal Best: HT – 51.93 (1942).