Background
Tapavica, an ethnic Serbian, was born in Nádalja, Kingdom of Hungary (now Nadalj, Serbia) in 1872.
architect Tennis player weightlifter
Tapavica, an ethnic Serbian, was born in Nádalja, Kingdom of Hungary (now Nadalj, Serbia) in 1872.
He began to practise sports in Újvidék (Novi Sad), continuing his training in Budapest, where he studied architecture and civil engineering at the Technical College.
After his sporting career Tapavica became a well-known architect. He soon excelled with his performances and was selected in the Hungarian team for the first Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, where he competed in tennis, weightlifting and wrestling. In the first round, he defeated Doctorate. Frangopoulos of Greece.
The second round gave him a bye, subsequently Dionysios Kasdaglis of Egypt beat Tapavica in the semifinal, and with no playoff for third place he shared bronze medal honors with Greek Konstantinos Paspatis.
He did not compete in the doubles tournament. In weightlifting, Tapavica overextended himself, which caused him a shoulder injury and eventually finished last of the six competitors in the two-handed weightlifting, now known as the clean and jerk.
Two days later, still unhelaed, Tapavica was defeated in the first round of the wrestling competition by Stephanos Christopoulos. The two were nearly evenly matched, but Tapavica tired first and conceded.
After the Olympic Games, Tapavica never again participated in competitive events, however he continued to do recreational sports, such as athletics, gymnastics and rowing.
Foreign many years he was a member of the Újvidék-based rowing club Danubius.