Eugen Stahl Schmidt (17 February 1862 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Denmark - 7 October 1931 in Aalborg, Denmark) was a Danish

shooter Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...

, athlete, and

tug of war Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) is a sport that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certa ...

competitor. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

and at the 1900 Summer Olympics in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Background

Schmidt was an active sportsman and an outstanding athlete, practicing several modalities such as

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

, football,

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...

, skating,

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

and

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

. He was particularly interested in English sport, visiting

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

several times. In Denmark, the first athletics event was held by the Københavns Roklub in 1886 at the initiative of sports pioneers such as

Jørgen Peter Müller Jørgen Peter Müller (7 October 1866 - 17 November 1938) was a Danish gymnastics educator and author. He is also known as J. P. Muller. Biography His book ''Mit System'' (''My System''), published in 1904, was a bestseller and has been translate ...

and himself, being the chairman of Københavns Roklub, the second oldest rowing club in the country. He also became a board member of the Danish Rowing Federation, for which he served as chairman between 1894 and 1896. In 1896 he co-founded DIF, the Danish Sports Federation. Between 1885 and 1899 he was a brewmaster at Carlsberg. He would also write for a sports magazine and had a few sports books published.

Olympics

In 1896, Schmidt participated as one of three Danish athletes who competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. He competed in two events: In the 100 metres event, he finished fourth in his heat and did not advance to the final. He also competed in the military rifle event, finishing tied for twelfth place with 845 points; Schmidt hit the target 12 times out of his 40 shots. Together with fellow Københavns Roklub athlete Holger Nielsen, Schmidt also participated in the unofficial football event in which a Danish XI faced a Greek team as a "demonstration sport", and it was the Danes who came-out as the winners by either 9–0 or 15–0. Four years later, Schmidt competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. This time he was competing for the mixed team in the

, with the team consisting of three

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

and three

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

athletes. The

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

team withdrew, so Schmidt's team was up against the French team in the final. The mixed side won the first two pulls and so were awarded the gold medal. In the 1912 he was back on the Olympic scene as the director for the

rowing team at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Eugen 1862 births 1931 deaths Danish male sprinters Danish male sport shooters ISSF rifle shooters Olympic athletes of Denmark Olympic shooters of Denmark Olympic tug of war competitors of Denmark Athletes (track and field) at the 1896 Summer Olympics 19th-century sportsmen Shooters at the 1896 Summer Olympics Tug of war competitors at the 1900 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Denmark Sportspeople from Copenhagen Olympic medalists in tug of war Medalists at the 1900 Summer Olympics