Dimitrios Loundras

Dimitrios Loundras was a Greek gymnast and naval officer who competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. He was the last surviving participant of these Games. Loundras competed in the team parallel bars event. In that competition, Loundras was a member of the Ethnikos Gymnastikos Syllogos team that placed third of the three teams in the event, giving him a bronze medal. At 10 years 218 days he remains the youngest medalist and competitor in Olympic history. Loundras later became an officer in the Royal Hellenic Navy, graduating from the Hellenic Navy Academy as an ensign in 1905. He served in various commands as well as a naval attache, and fought in World War I, before retiring with the rank of rear admiral in 1935. On the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in 1940, he was recalled to active service and appointed head of the Aegean Naval Command. He finally retired in 1945 as a vice admiral. From 1924 on he was a member of the Hellenic Olympic Committee. After World War II he played a leading role in the establishment of the Hellenic Shooting Federation, and became its first president. In 1936 he also served briefly as prefect of Lesbos Prefecture.