Gustav Fischer (equestrian)
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
November 8, 1915 Meisterschwanden, Switzerland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | November 22, 1990 (aged 75) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gustav Fischer (November 8, 1915 - November 22, 1990) was a Swiss equestrian athlete who competed at five Summer Olympic Games, winning a total of five medals. He won medals in the team dressage events in the 1952, 1956, 1964, and 1968 games;[1] there was no team dressage event held in 1960,[2] but he won an individual dressage medal in that year.[1]
In 1968, he and fellow equestrian Henri Chammartin jointly became the second Swiss sportspersons to compete at five Olympic Games. (The first was middle-distance runner Paul Martin.)
Early life
Fischer was born on November 8, 1915, in Meisterschwanden, Switzerland.[1]
Olympic career
Fischer first competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland at the age of 36, in both the individual and team dressage events.[1] He came in a disappointing 8th place in the individual event, behind both of his Swiss teammates; Gottfried Trachsel, who finished 4th, and Henri Chammartin, who finished 6th. However, he earned the first of five Olympic medals, a silver, in the team event with Trachsel and Chammartin.[3] Four years later, at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, Fischer again medaled in the team event, and again fell short in the individual.[1] This time, Trachsel, Chammartin, and Fischer took bronze, and finished 6th, 8th, and 10th respectively in the individual event.[4]
Of the three athletes, only Fischer and Chammartin would compete in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, although in any case no team dressage event was held that year.[2][5] However, Fischer found new success, winning second place and a silver medal in the individual dressage competition, the only individual medal of his career.[5] The 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, saw Fischer as the oldest member of the Swiss team, at 48 years of age. That year, he just missed winning a second individual medal in dressage, taking fourth place while his teammate Henri Chammartin took gold. However, with Chammartin and 21-year-old Marianne Gossweiler, the youngest Swiss equestrian athlete at the games, Fischer earned yet another silver medal in team dressage.[6] He won his final Olympic medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico at the age of 52, a bronze in team dressage, again with Chammartin and Gossweiler.[7]
Later life
Fischer died on November 22, 1990.[1]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Gustav Fischer". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "The XVII Olympiad: Rome 1960" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. 1960. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
- ↑ "Switzerland Equestrianism at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
- ↑ "Switzerland Equestrianism at the 1960 Roma Summer Games". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 2010-12-21.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Switzerland Equestrianism at the 1960 Helsinki Summer Games". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
- ↑ "Switzerland Equestrianism at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
- ↑ "Switzerland Equestrianism at the 1968 Ciudad de México Summer Games". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-11-10.