Valér Barač

Valér Barač graduated from Czechoslovak state high school in Košice in 1928 before going to Bratislava University to study medicine. Whilst at university Barač joined the athletics team where he was selected to represent Czechoslovakia at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He competed in the discus throw in Berlin but did not advance from the qualification round. Following the completion of his studies he moved to Bardejov where he ran his own doctors’ practice. In 1949 Barač was arrested by Russian soldiers on suspicion of being linked to a smuggling group working on the Czech-Austrian border, bringing the new drug penicillin into the country. He was given a 12-year prison sentence, with him serving seven years in a prison in Jáchymov. After his release from prison Barač continued to work as a doctor in Bardejov, with a street in village of Družstevná pri Hornáde being named after him.

Personal Best: DT – 42.82 (1934).