Józef Szmidt
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| Olympic medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's athletics | |||
| Gold | Rome 1960 | Triple Jump | |
| Gold | Tokyo 1964 | Triple Jump | |
Józef Szmidt (born March 28, 1935 in Michałkowice (Siemianowice Śląskie, Silesia) is a former Polish athlete. Having German roots, he is often referred to by the Germanized name Jozef Schmidt.
Szmidt, a mechanic by profession, was the world's leading triple jumper in the early 1960's, becoming European champion in 1958 and 1962, and Olympic champion in 1960 and 1964. The two latter years he was awarded the Sportsman of the Year prize in Poland. With a jump of 17,03 in 1960, Szmidt was the first triple jumper to reach 17 metres.
In 1975 Szmidt met Willy Brandt in order to improve Polish-German relations. He lives in Germany today.
| Olympic champions in men's triple jump |
|---|
| 1896: James Connolly | 1900: Myer Prinstein | 1904: Myer Prinstein | 1906: Peter O'Connor | 1908: Tim Ahearne | 1912: Gustaf Lindblom | 1920: Vilho Tuulos | 1924: Nick Winter | 1928: Mikio Oda | 1932: Chuhei Nambu | 1936: Naoto Tajima | 1948: Arne Åhman | 1952: Adhemar da Silva | 1956: Adhemar da Silva | 1960: Józef Szmidt | 1964: Józef Szmidt | 1968: Viktor Saneyev | 1972: Viktor Saneyev | 1976: Viktor Saneyev | 1980: Jaak Uudmäe | 1984: Al Joyner | 1988: Hristo Markov | 1992: Mike Conley | 1996: Kenny Harrison | 2000: Jonathan Edwards | 2004: Christian Olsson |
