Xaver Frick (22 February 1913 – 10 June 2009) was a Liechtensteiner Olympic

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 eve ...

athlete and cross-country skier. He was born in

Balzers Balzers is a village located in southern Liechtenstein. As of 2019, the village had a total population of 4,642. The main part of the village is situated along the east bank of the Rhine. History and culture Historically, the present-day form o ...

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarch ...

. He competed in track

sprinting Sprinting is running over a short distance at the top-most speed of the body in a limited period of time. It is used in many sports that incorporate running, typically as a way of quickly reaching a target or goal, or avoiding or catching an op ...

events in the 1936 Summer Olympics in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

and cross-country skiing at the

1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (german: V. Olympische Winterspiele; french: Ves Jeux olympiques d'hiver; it, V Giochi olimpici invernali; rm, V Gieus olimpics d'enviern) and commonly known as St. Moritz ...

in St. Moritz. Frick is the only

athlete to date to have competed in both the Summer and

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

. Frick was a founding member of both the National Sports Association and the first Liechtenstein National Olympic Committee (NOC). He served as the Secretary of the National Olympic Committee beginning at its founding in 1935. He later headed the country's NOC as President from 1963 until 1970. Frick served as the first president of the Liechtenstein Athletics Federation, also known as the Liechtensteiner Turn- und Leichtathletikverband, a European Athletics Member Federation, for 35 years. Additionally, Frick served on the board of directors of several other Liechtenstein organizations including the Alpine Club, the Gymnastics Club, and the Balzers Ski Club. He was awarded a

Golden Laurel The Laurel Awards was an American cinema awards system established to honor films, actors, actresses, producers, directors, and composers. This award was created by the ''Motion Picture Exhibitor'' magazine, and ran from 1948 to 1971 (with the ...

in 2003 by the government of Liechtenstein for outstanding contributions to sport. Frick died on 10 June 2009 at the age of 96.

References

1913 births 2009 deaths Liechtenstein male sprinters Liechtenstein male cross-country skiers Olympic athletes of Liechtenstein Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic cross-country skiers of Liechtenstein Cross-country skiers at the 1948 Winter Olympics {{Liechtenstein-crosscountry-skiing-bio-stub

See also

References