Arnd Schmitt

Arnd Rüdiger Schmitt (born July 13, 1965 in Heidenheim an der Brenz ) is a former German fencer who has been multiple German champions and won two Olympic gold medals.

successes

Arnd Schmitt was trained at Heidenheimer SB , before his greatest successes he moved to Bayer 04 Leverkusen via the Tauberbischofsheim fencing club . In 1985 he won the Frankenland tournament and drove to the world championship as a German junior champion with the Degen team . There he won his first world title. In 1986 he was again team world champion and in 1987 he finished second. In 1987 Schmitt won the German individual championship for the first time. At the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988 he won gold in the individual competition, in the final he defeated the Frenchman Philippe Riboud . With the team, Schmitt lost six days later in the final against the French and received silver.

At the 1990 World Cup , Schmitt received the bronze medal in the individual competition and was fourth with the German team. A year later, the team won the bronze medal at the 1991 World Fencing Championships . In 1991 Schmitt won the title of German Master for the second time . At the 1992 Olympic Games , Schmitt retired early in the individual competition and was listed in 29th place. With the team he reached the final, where the German team won the gold medal against Hungary.

For this, he and the team received the Silver Laurel Leaf on April 23, 1993.

In 1993 the world championship was held in Essen. In the individual competition, Schmitt reached the finals, but lost to the Russian Pawel Kolobkow . The German team won the bronze medal in Essen. A year later at the World Championships in Athens, Schmitt won bronze in the individual competition and silver with the team. In 1994 Schmitt won his third German championship title , at the European Championships he won silver in the individual. In 1995 he became individual European champion . At the 1995 World Cup , Schmitt was ninth in the individual ranking. With the team he won the world championship for the third time after 1985 and 1986. At the 1996 Olympic Games , Schmitt was the flag bearer of the German delegation at the opening ceremony. He was tenth in the individual, the team just missed a medal in fourth.

In 1997 Schmitt was second with the team at the World Cup . He won the German championships in epee singles in 1997 , 1998 and 1999 in a row. At the European Championship in 1999 he won bronze with the team. The 1999 World Championships took place in Seoul, where Schmitt had become Olympic champion in singles eleven years earlier. And Schmitt actually won the individual competition, with the team he came second. In his fourth Olympic Games in 2000 in Sydney Schmitt to conclude his career with the team was fifth.

Schmitt was active speaker for many years during his career. He received his doctorate from the University of Cologne in 1999. In 2002 he was a member of the National Olympic Committee . After the end of his active sports career, the dentist is among other things a member of the board of trustees of the Sportstiftung NRW .

In July 2016, Schmitt was inducted into the Hall of Fame of German Sports .

literature

• National Olympic Committee for Germany: Sydney 2000. The German Olympic team Frankfurt am Main 2000
• Arnd Schmitt , in: Internationales Sportarchiv 43/2014 from October 21, 2014, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely available)

Web links

• Arnd Schmitt in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• History of the World Fencing Championships (men's sword) from sport-komplett.de
• History European Fencing Championships (men's swords) from sport-komplett.de
• History of the German fencing championships from sport-komplett.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Landessportbund Niedersachsen e. V., VIBSS: The Federal President and his tasks in the field of sport: .... on April 26, 1993 Federal President von Weizsäcker signed .... disabled and non-disabled athletes, namely the medal winners of the Olympic and Paralymic Games in 1992 the silver bay leaf from ...
2. ↑ Compare the specimen copy at the German National Library DNB 959 625 909
3. ↑ message 24 05 2016. In: www.hall-of-fame-sport.de. Retrieved July 17, 2016 .