Juan Bautista Pina

Born in Zaragoza, Spain, Juan Bautista Pina later moved to Argentina where he became a track and field athlete who specialised as a sprinter. Pina won gold in the 4 x 100 metres relay race at the South American Championships in Athletics on three occasions (1926–27, 1931). His talent as a sprinter earned him a place on Argentina’s team for the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics where he ran in both the 100 and 200 metres. In Pina’s heat in the quarter-finals of the 100 metres he was officially placed in second, despite film of the race showing him clearly finishing in third. He advanced to the semi-finals at the expense of the South African sprinter Johannes Viljoen who finished in second but was placed in third. In the semi-finals, however, Pina finished in last place in his heat and was eliminated.

Personal Bests: 100 – 10.4 (1931); 200 – 21.6 (1931).