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Eugen Schmidt
	; Schmidt in 1896
Medal record
Men's tug of war
Representing a Mixed team

Eugen Stahl Schmidt (17 February 1862 in Copenhagen, Denmark – 7 October 1931 in Aalborg, Denmark) was a Danish shooter, athlete, and tug of war competitor. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens and at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris.^[1]

Background

Schmidt was an active sportsman and an outstanding athlete, practicing several modalities such as gymnastics, rowing, athletics, tennis, football, fencing, skating, golf and swimming. He was particularly interested in English sport, visiting England 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 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.^[2] Between 1885 and 1899 he was a brewmaster at Carlsberg.^[3] He would also write for a sports magazine and had a few sports books published.^[4]

Olympics

In 1896, Schmidt participated as one of three Danish athletes who competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. He competed in two events: In the 100 metres event, he finished fourth in his heat and did not advance to the final.^[5] 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.^[6] 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.^[7]^[8]

Four years later, Schmidt competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. This time he was competing for the mixed team in the tug of war, with the team consisting of three Danish and three Swedish athletes. The American 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.^[9]

In the 1912 he was back on the Olympic scene as the director for the Danish rowing team at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden.^[4]

References

^ "Eugen Schmidt". Olympedia. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
^ "Eugen Scmidt, Bio". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
^ "The Olympic Master". carlsberg.com. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
^ ^a ^b "Eugen Schmidt". gravsted.dk. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
^ "Athletics at the 1896 Athina Summer Games: Men's 100 metres Round One". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
^ "Shooting at the 1896 Athina Summer Games: Men's Military Rifle, 200 metres". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
^ "Games of the I. Olympiad". RSSSF. 3 February 2022. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
^ "Olympic Football: 1896 Demonstration Match between Denmark and Greece". www.topendsports.com. Archived from the original on 27 June 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
^ "Tug-Of-War at the 1900 Paris Summer Games: Men's Tug-Of-War". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2017.