Harald Schmid (; born 29 September 1957) is a retired German

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who competed in the sprints and

hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

. He was one of the best 400 metres hurdles runners in the world during his career.

Career

Schmid won bronze with the West German

4 × 400 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

team at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

as well as an individual bronze in the 400 m hurdles at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in 1984. In addition, he won silver at the 1983 World Championships in the 400 m hurdles and the 4 × 400 m relay and a further bronze in 400 m hurdles at the 1987 World Championships. At the latter, he finished only 0.02 s behind the gold medalist

Edwin Moses Edwin Corley Moses (born August 31, 1955) is an American former track and field athlete who won gold medals in the 400 m hurdles at the 1976 and 1984 Olympics. Between 1977 and 1987, Moses won 107 consecutive finals (122 consecutive races) and ...

; Schmid's duels with Moses during the late 1970s and early 1980s were famous and Schmid was the last person to beat Moses before his streak of 122 consecutive victories. Moses said of him: "I would wake up at the morning, and in California we’re about nine hours behind Germany. I’d say to myself, ‘Harald has probably finished his workout by now, I need to get busy!’ Guys like him were my motivation." Schmid also won gold at the European Championships 5 times (3 individual and 2 team medals) and one silver with the team. His personal best in the 400 m hurdles was 47.48 s (achieved twice: in 1982 and at the World Championships in 1987), which at one point was the European record and the second fastest time ever. In 2016, he was inducted into

Germany's Sports Hall of Fame The Germany's Sports Hall of Fame (german: Hall of Fame des deutschen Sports) is the national sports hall of fame in Germany, initiated 2006. The inductions are made by Stiftung Deutsche Sporthilfe, Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund and Verband De ...

Personal life

Schmid has a PhD in

Sports Science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sport and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally inc ...

and was appointed to the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

athletes commission in 1999. He participates actively in anti-drug campaigns and encourages children's sport activities.

References

External links

*
Harald Schmid's public relations company

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmid, Harald Living people 1957 births West German male sprinters West German male hurdlers Olympic athletes of West Germany Olympic bronze medalists for West Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for West Germany World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade gold medalists for West Germany Medalists at the 1979 Summer Universiade Sportspeople from Hanau