Background
The son of a German gymnastics instructor established in Barcelona, he belonged to the gymnastics section of Football Club Barcelona.
The son of a German gymnastics instructor established in Barcelona, he belonged to the gymnastics section of Football Club Barcelona.
He was a favourite for the 1956 Summer Olympics of Melbourne, until Spain boycotted the games in protest against the presence of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics, after their brutal suppression of the Hungarian Revolution. He was also a favourite in the 1960 Summer Olympics, but he died in a plane crash at the Valdemeca mountains, in Cuenca, on April 29, 1959. The plane was headed for Canarias, where the Spanish gymnastics team were to do a gymnastics exhibition.
There were no survivors.
He was survived by a daughter
In his honour, the Catalonian Gymnastics Federation started in 1969 the Memorial Joaquim Blume tournament, first only of male gymnastics with female competition introduced in 1972. A sculpture in his honour is displayed at the Gardens of Joan Brossa, in Barcelona.