Dragutin Tomašević
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Dragutin Tomašević (born April 20, 1890 in Bistrica – died October, 1915 in Rašanac) was an track and field athlete and gymnast from the Kingdom of Serbia, who competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden.
Tomašević completed primary school in Bistrica and secondary trading school in Petrovac na Mlavi. In 1905, he moved to Belgrade where took a job as a salesman. He was a member of sports society called “Dušan Silni″. An outstanding gymnast and athlete, he took part in every competition organised by the Serbian Olympic Club. On May 27, 1912, he competed in the marathon qualification race in competition of forty other runners, who were mainly members of “Dušan Silni″, sokols and soldiers, much better prepared than their predecessors. The winner was private Tomašević of the 18th infantry regiment, who crossed the finish line after 2 hours and 52 minutes.
In Stockholm, on July 1, 1912, 62 of 92 registered marathon runners started the race, but Tomašević’s ranking remains somewhat of mystery, because no official written reports did survive. According to some sources, Tomašević was ranked 37th clocking 2 hours and 47 minutes – 11.54 seconds slower than the winner. Dušan Milošević, the other Yugoslav Olympian in Stockholm, later told that Tomašević had claimed that "he was dragged down in a ditch just outside of Stockholm and held until their favourites have passed".
In October 1915 Tomašević was enlisted in the army as a sergeant at the start of the First World War. He was soon seriously wounded in a clash with the German troops on the Bubanj Hill near Požarevac. He died in the village of Rašanac, and was buried in his home village of Bistrica, together with all of his sports trophies.
