Harald Schmid
Harald Schmid (1981)
Personal information
Born29 September 1957 (1957-09-29) (age 66)
Hanau, West Germany
Height1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight82 kg (181 lb)
Sport
SportTrack and field
Events
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  West Germany
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1976 Montreal 4 x 400 m relay
Bronze medal – third place 1984 Los Angeles 400 m hurdles
World Championships
Silver medal – second place1983 Helsinki400 m hurdles
Silver medal – second place1983 Helsinki4 × 400 m relay
Bronze medal – third place1987 Rome400 m hurdles
European Championships
Gold medal – first place1978 Prague400 m hurdles
Gold medal – first place1978 Prague4 × 400 m relay
Gold medal – first place1982 Athens400 m hurdles
Gold medal – first place1982 Athens4 × 400 m relay
Gold medal – first place1986 Stuttgart400 m hurdles
Silver medal – second place1986 Stuttgart4 × 400 m relay
IAAF World Cup
Gold medal – first place 1977 Düsseldorf 4 × 400 m relay
Silver medal – second place 1979 Montreal, 400 m hurdles
Bronze medal – third place 1977 Düsseldorf 400 m hurdles
Bronze medal – third place 1985 Canberra 400 m hurdles

Harald Schmid (German pronunciation: [ˈha.ʁalt ˈʃmɪt] ⓘ; born 29 September 1957) is a retired German track and field athlete who competed in the sprints and hurdles. 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 team at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal as well as an individual bronze in the 400 m hurdles at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles 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; 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."[1]

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.[2]

Personal life

Schmid has a PhD in Sports Science and was appointed to the IAAF athletes commission in 1999. He participates actively in anti-drug campaigns and encourages children's sport activities.

References

  1. ↑ "Barcelona Press Points: Ed Moses, Kevin Young and Harald Schmidt | NEWS | World Athletics".
  2. ↑ "Meldung 24 05 2016". www.hall-of-fame-sport.de. Archived from the original on 2016-07-17. Retrieved 2016-07-17.
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