Olympic Career
His Olympic career began as a swimmer at the 1906 Intercalated Games where he finished 4th in 100 metres freestyle and 5th in the 400 metres event. In the 1 mile event he did not finish.
In 1908 he won a gold medal as part of the British water polo team that defeated Belgium 9-2 in the final. Radmilovic scored twice in the final. Two days later he was drafted into the 4×200 metre relay squad when another swimmer withdrew due to illness and swam the second leg of a dramatic race. Hungary appeared to be cruising to victory when anchor leg swimmer Zoltán Halmay began to lose consciousness in the water. Halmay struggled to the finish but Henry Taylor had touched four seconds earlier to give the British victory. Radmilovic also competed in three individual freestyle events but failed to make a final.
After the 1908 Olympics, Radmilovic moved to Weston-super-Mare and represented the town's swimming and water polo clubs.
He won his third career gold as part of the British Water Polo team at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. The Austrians were defeated 8-0 in the final.
Radmilovic's fourth and final gold came at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp albeit in eventful circumstances. Great Britain and Belgium had impressed in reaching the final and the game itself was a tight one decided when Radmilovic scored to put the British 3-2 ahead. On the final whistle incensed Belgian spectators attempted to attack the British players. Armed police guarded the team as they left the pool.
He competed as a member of the British team in both the 1924 and 1928 Olympic water polo tournaments without medal success. He was 42 years old when his Olympic career ended.
His record of four gold medals was unrivalled by any British Olympian until Sir Steve Redgrave equalled and eventually broke it by winning his fifth title in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney
If one includes the 1906 Intercalated Games, he competed at six Olympic Games. It would only be in 1976 when another athlete, fencer Bill Hoskyns, would compete at six Games for Great Britain.
Read more about this topic: Paulo Radmilovic
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