Dimitrije Merzlikin was born somewhere in the Northern Caucasus mountains, likely in Russia, and emigrated to Yugoslavia in 1921. He first became active in gymnastics with a club in Sremska Mitrovica, before moving to Beograd. In 1936, he made his international début when was selected for the Yugoslavian national gymnastics team to compete at the Berlin Olympics. There, he was the only member on the team from what is now the Republic of Serbia. In the team event, where the Yugoslavian team scored a sixth place finish, Merzlikin amassed 94.568 points, ranking seventh amongst his eight other teammates. His best event was the rings, where he placed 43rd out of 111 other competitors. He continued to compete in Serbian gymnastics events until at least the early 1940s, when he was employed as a graduate technician at a business in Beograd.
Yugoslavia