Bruno Junk

Bruno Junk (27 September 1929 – 22 September 1995) was an Estonian race walker. He competed for the Soviet Union at the 1952 and 1956 Olympics and won bronze medals on both occasions. He set a world record in the 15 km in 1951 (1:08:08.0), and had world's best times in the 20 km in 1956 (1:30:00.8) and in the 3 km in 1952 (11:51.4). Domestically he won four Soviet titles: in 1951 and 1956 in the 20 km, and in 1952 and 1953 in the 10 km, and eight Estonian titles: in 1949–50 and 1956–59 in the 20 km, in 1958 in the 10 km, and in 1959 in the 30 km.[1][2]

Bruno Junk

Junk in 1952
Personal information
Born	27 September 1929 Valga, Estonia
Died	22 September 1995 (aged 65) Tartu, Estonia
Height	185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	72 kg (159 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Race walking
Club	Dynamo Moscow Dünamo Tallinn
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	10 km – 42:20.6 (1958) 20 km – 1:28:05 (1956)[1]
Medal record Representing the  Soviet Union Olympic Games 1952 Helsinki 10 km 1956 Melbourne 20 km

Junk took up race walking in 1948 and retired in 1959. He later worked as an athletics coach at Dünamo Tallinn club, serving as its vice-president in 1976–1979. He was also vice-president (1964–1970) and then president (1979–1987) of the Estonian Athletics Federation. In parallel Junk worked for the Estonian Ministry of Internal Affairs and wrote for the Estonian sports periodicals Kehakultuur and Spordileht. Since 1996 an annual memorial race walking tournament has been held in his honor in his birth town of Valga. There is a street named after him in Puka, Estonia, a borough near Valga.[1][2]

References

1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Bruno Junk". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
2. Bruno Junk Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Estonian Olympic Committee