The Olympic Dictionary S SAAR A mining region of Germany, which, after the Second World War, was given to France along with the Ruhr but recognized as a sort of independent territory. Its Olympic Committee, recognized by the IOC, was invited to the 1952 Summer Games, where it took part with 36 athletes, winning no medals. The region was reunited with the Federal Republic of Germany in 1/1/1957: but on 20 September of 1956, Saar’s Olympic Committee was dissolved, and the athletes joined the mixed West German-East German team for the 1956 Summer Games. SABONIS ARVIDAS ROMAS (basketball, USSR/Lithuania, b. Kaunas 19/12/1964). Three appearances (1988/USSR, 1992/CIS, 1996/LIT), one gold (1988) and 2 bronze medals (1992 and 1996). 1988 1-0-0, 1992 0-0-1, 1996 0-0-1. With a height of 221 centimetres, he won the gold medal in Seoul beating the USA 82-76 in the semi-final and Yugoslavia 76-63 in the final (pulling back from an initial 12-24), by which team the USSR had been beaten 92-79 in a match in the preliminary pool. He scored 93 points and took 70 rebounds in the 7 (out of 8) matches that he played, with 20 points and 15 rebounds in the final. Then he won 2 bronze medals with Lithuania: in 1992, beating the ex-USSR (known as CIS in those Games) 82-78 in the 3rd place final, in which he scored 27 points; and in 1996, beating Australia 80-74. In the World Championships he won one gold medal (1982) and one silver (1986), in the European Championships one gold (1985) and 2 bronze (1983-89) medals with USSR, and then one silver (1995) with Lithuania. He played in Zalgiris Kaunas up until 1989, winning 3 Soviet championships (1985-86-87) and an Intercontinental Cup (1986), then with Valladolid up until 1992, with Real Madrid until 1995, winning 2 league championships (1993-94), a Champion’s Cup (1995) and a Spanish Cup (1993), and then up until 2003 with the Portland Trail Blazers. He had already been selected in the 1985 draft by the Atlanta Hawks and the following year by Portland, but in 1986 he broke his Achilles tendon and did not play in the NBA. Later, when he joined, playing 7 seasons with the Blazers (missing 2001-02), notwithstanding many injuries and reaching the age of 30, he scored 5.629 points and took 3.436 rebounds (match averages respectively 12 and 7.3), plus 617 points and 378 rebounds in the playoffs. He ended his career in 2005 after another two seasons with Zalgiris, having purchased the majority share of the team. SÁGINE UJLAKINÉ REJTÖ ILDIKÓ (fencing, Hungary, b. Budapest 11/5/1937). Five appearances (1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976), 2 gold (individual and team foil 1964), 3 silver (team foil 1960, 1968 and 1972) and 2 bronze medals (individual foil 1968, team foil 1976). 1960 0-1-0, 1964 2-0-0, 1968 0-1-1, 1972 0-1-0, 1976 0-0-1. She took part in the 1960 Games as Rejtö, in the 1964 and 1968 Games as Ujlakiné-Rejtö (Ujlaki was her first husband, and in the 1972 and 1976 Games as Ságine-Rejtö (after her second marriage to Sagi). Born deaf, her coach wrote instructions on a sheet of paper. She won 2 gold medals in 1964: first in individual foil, losing twice against the German Mees (4-3 in the first round and 4-2 in the final round), but beating her 4-0 in the three- sided barrage for the medals, and winning the gold in part due to her 4-1 victory over Ragno (q.v.); she then won in the team event, notwithstanding her 3 defeats out of 4 (including a 1-5 again against Mees) in the semi-final with Germany, in any case beaten 9-6, and then winning 3 assaults out of 4 in the decisive 9-7 against the USSR. Against this latter team she lost another 3 team finals: 3-9 in 1960 and 1968, and 5-9 in 1972. In the World Championships she won 5 gold (individual 1963, team 1959-62-67-73), 7 silver and 3 bronze medals; and she won 18 Hungarian titles, 6 176 The Olympic Dictionary individual and 12 team, of which the last in 1980, when she was 43. In 1999 she was still on the piste, and won the over-60 World Masters Championships. SAILING Made its debut at the 1900 Games and has been ever-present since 1908. Regulated by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF - www.sailing.org). SAINT CYR HENRI JULIUS REVERENOY (equestrian, Sweden, b. Stockholm 15/3/1902, d. Stockholm 27/7/1979). Five appearances (1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960), 4 gold medals (individual dressage 1952 and 1956, team dressage 1952 and 1956). 1952 2-0-0, 1956 2-0-0. He began his military career in 1924, and ended a Major. After having taken part in the three-day event in Berlin (25th in individual competition), he finished 5th riding Djimm in the dressage in London, where Sweden – who had won the team event – was disqualified 8 months later because Gehnall Persson had been promoted to an officer rank, then a mandatory condition, solely to enable him to take part in the Games. Success came with his two medals in Helsinki riding Master Rufus – in the meantime, the rules had changed, and civilians were allowed to compete – and in Stockholm (where equestrian events were held in 1956 due to horse quarantine problems) on Juli. In the individual competition, in both Games he finished ahead of the Dane Hartel, who was paralysed from the knees down and had to be assisted when mounting. Saint Cyr helped him climb onto the podium. He came close to an individual bronze at the age of 58, coming 4th on L’Etoile in 1960. SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS (Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Caribbean, capital Basseterre, area 269,4 km2, population 50.417). The Olympic Committee, formed in 1986, received IOC recognition in 1993. It took part in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Games. Yet to win a medal. SAINT LUCIA (Caribbean, capital Castries, area 617 km2, population 164.923). The Olympic Committee, formed in 1987, received IOC recognition in 1993. It took part in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Games. Yet to win a medal. SAINT VINCENT AND GRENADINE (Caribbean, capital Kingstown, area 389 km2, population 120.398). The Olympic Committee, formed in 1982, received IOC recognition in 1987. From 1988 on it has taken part at all Olympics. Yet to win a medal. SALNIKOV VLADIMIR VALERYEVICH (swimming, USSR, b. Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, Russia, then USSR, 21/5/1960). Three appearances (1976, 1980, 1988) and 4 gold medals (400 m freestyle 1980, 1500 m freestyle 1980 and 1988, 4x200 m freestyle relay 1980). 1980 3-0-0, 1988 1-0-0. He dominated middle distance swimming for about a decade, and remained unbeaten for 7 years, from September 1977 to August 1984. In 1976 he reached the 1500 final in the Montreal Games, coming 5th with the European record time (15:29.45). “During the day I am always in the water: 5-7 km in periods of rest, with a lot of gymnastics, and over 25 km in the run- up to races. My training sessions start at about eight in the morning and continue up to the evening. Then I study. When I am swimming I listen to Beethoven, it gives me amazing energy”. In 1977, in the 1500 he won the first of his 6 European titles (1500 m freestyle 1977-81-83, 4x100 m freestyle relay 1981, 4x200 m freestyle relay 1981, 400 m freestyle 1983, and a silver in the 400 m freestyle 1981). Expectations regarding his performance were running high at the 1980 Games, and he did not disappoint them: gold medal in the 400 in 3:51.31, with an all-Soviet podium with Andrei Krylov and Ivar Stukolkin; with them and Sergei Kopliakov he won the 4x200 freestyle relay in 7:23.50, ahead of East Germany and Brazil. He dominated his speciality, the 1500 m, accumulating a one-second lead after just two lengths; he increased his lead to 3 seconds at 400 metres, swam the last 400 m in 2 seconds less than his time for the first 400, and won in 14:58.27, about 16 seconds ahead of the others, the first man to break the 15 minute barrier. “How do I stand up to the psychological stress of such a long race? As a friend of mine in Leningrad says, you have to be 177 The Olympic Dictionary patient, it’s like slicing up an elephant with a knife”. He did not take part in the Los Angeles Games due to the boycott, and that moment marked the start of the darker period of his career: he missed the 1985 European Championships due to physical problems, came fourth in the 1986 World Championships, was eliminated in the heats at the 1987 European Championships, and persistent rumours suggested that he was consuming large amounts of alcohol and was close to retirement. Soviet sports officials would have liked to exclude him from the National team for the approaching 1988 Seoul Games, but Salnikov, who had also followed a military career reaching the rank of Colonel, managed to obtain a place in the team through his rank and for his glorious past. In Korea he qualified for the 1500 final, for which the favourites were the West German Stefan Pfeiffer, the East German Uwe Dassler and the American Matthew Cetlinski.