Danilo Žerjal
(1919–1984)
Danilo Žerjal (also Daniel Cereali) was a Slovenian athlete. He has been buried at the Dutovlje cemetery since 1998. In 2010, the sports hall at the Dutovlje Elementary School was named after him. Danilo Žerjal was born on 11 February 1919 in Dutovlje.
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He was quite restless as a child because he loved freedom. He was especially interested in sports activities, which he performed in the Dutovlje fields. He entered athletics and performed for three national teams – Italy, Yugoslavia and Venezuela.
He first started in athletics in 1939 when he served in the military at the south of Italy. There, he was renamed to Danilo Cereali. He competed for the Fiamme Gialle club in Rome. By 1940, he had several exceptional results in discus throw and shot put. During the war, he did not participate in competitions. However, after the war, his results were better and better. He also tried hammer throw. In 1951, he transferred to the Kladivar club from Celje, with which he surpassed the Yugoslav national record by Gubijan who was second in the 1948 Olympic Games. With this success, he was listed in the world ranking of the best athletes. Danilo was a 12-time member of the national team, 7-time Yugoslav national champion and 2-time Slovenian national champion. He participated in the London Olympic Games in 1948 and returned to Italy in 1952, which led to Yugoslavia deleting all his records on 18 April 1952. During his period in Italy, he again exceeded himself. He finished his Italian sports career in 1957 and moved to Venezuela, changing his name to Danielo. He became the Venezuelan record-holder in discus and hammer throw and competed in the national team for 11 years. He was also a multiple-time national champion in discus and hammer throw. His life was too short for all challenges because he died on 26 August 1984 in Caracas, Venezuela. |
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