Ludwig Valentich

Austrian writer, author and poet Ludwig Valentich mostly wrote poems, but also published some science and education studies about modern sports in the 1920s. He is also known for his drama Thermophylä from 1914. He was noted to be a swimmer and diver in his youth and represented the Ersten Wiener Amateurschwimmklub (1.WASC). Valentich was entered in all three men’s diving events at the 1912 Olympics but did not start any of them. He was entered by the Austrian Olympic Committee but withdrawn later so they could enter more female swimmers.

His work Modern Sports: popular scientific studies on its nature, phenomena and most important relationships, primarily from cultural-psychological and natural-philosophical points of view was published in Wien (Vienna) in 1923. In total, three volumes were planned, of which only the first was released. Today, some statements reasoning the development of modern sports appear a bit odd.