Axel Frederik Preben Schmidt (30 April 1939 – 10 June 2018) was a Brazilian

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

from

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

who competed in the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

, the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

, the Snipe World Championships, the

Star World Championships The Star World Championship are international sailing (sport), sailing regattas in the Star (sailboat), Star class organized by the International Star Class Yacht Racing Association sanctioned by International Sailing Federation. American sailo ...

and the Lightning World Championships. He is the son of Preben Tage Axel Schmidt (born in 1898 in

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the City of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

) and Helene Margrete Jelinski (born in Lyck,

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

) and brother of Ingrid, Margrete and Erik Schmidt, also competitive Brazilian sailors. Ingrid is the mother of

Torben Grael Torben is a Danish variant of the given name Torbjörn. People named Torben include: *Torben Betts (born 1968), English playwright and screenwriter *Torben Boye (born 1966), Danish former footballer *Torben Frank (born 1968), Danish former footbal ...

Lars Grael Lars Schmidt Grael (born February 9, 1964 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian politician and former professional sailor, having won two Olympic bronze medals (in 1988 and 1996). His brother, Torben Grael, is also a sailor. Together they won ...

, and Axel Grael. He and his twin brother Erik were known as "the sea twins" after winning 3 Snipe Worlds in a row (1961, 1963 and 1965). They also won the

1959 Pan American Games The 1959 Pan American Games were held in Chicago, Illinois, United States between August 28 and September 7, 1959. Host city selection One city initially submitted a bid to host the 1959 Pan American Games that was recognized by the Pan Ame ...

and finished 2nd in the

1963 Pan American Games The 1963 Pan American Games were held from April 20 to May 5, 1963, in São Paulo, Brazil. Host city selection For the first time, two cities submitted bids to host the 1963 Pan American Games that were recognized by the Pan American Sports O ...

Lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...

and third in the 1961 Lightning World Championships. In the Star class, they were 9th at the 1967 Star World Championships, and Axel was 22nd at the 1980 Star World Championships with Luiz Amaro as a crew.

Pan American Games

Axel Schmidt sailed at 2 different

: * 1st place in Lightning at Chicago 1959. * 2nd place in Lightning at São Paulo 1963.

Olympic Games

Axel Schmidt sailed at 2 different

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

: * 7th place in Star at Acapulco 1968. * 6th place in Soling at

Munich 1972 The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

References

1939 births 2018 deaths Sportspeople from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian male sailors (sport) Olympic sailors for Brazil Sailors at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Star Sailors at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Soling Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil Pan American Games silver medalists for Brazil Sailors at the 1959 Pan American Games Sailors at the 1963 Pan American Games Snipe class world champions Brazilian twins Brazilian people of Danish descent Brazilian people of German descent Pan American Games medalists in sailing World champions in sailing for Brazil Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games {{Brazil-yachtracing-bio-stub