Fritz Hofmann (athlete)
Fritz Hofmann (born June 19, 1871 in Roßleben , † July 14, 1927 in Berlin ) was the first German athlete to win a medal at the Olympic Games . At the Olympic Games in Athens in 1896 , he competed for Germany and was second in the 100 and fourth in the 400-meter run .
On the first day of the Games, April 6th (March 25th according to the Julian calendar in force in Greece), he finished second in the third elimination race of the 100-meter competition behind the American Thomas Edward Burke and thus qualified for the final run. There he took second place with a time of 12.2 s and received the bronze medal for this (in 1896 the first place got silver, the second place bronze).
In the 400-meter final, he finished fourth, one foot behind Charles Gmelin, with a time of 55.6 s. In the high jump competition , he finished fifth with 1.55 m. He also finished fifth in the shot put . In addition, he took part in the triple jump competition and was sixth there.
As was not unusual at the time, Fritz Hofmann also took part in competitions in other sports as a track and field athlete. With the parallel bars team Germany (Fritz Hofmann, Conrad Böcker , Alfred Flatow , Gustav Felix Flatow , Georg Hillmar , Fritz Manteuffel , Karl Neukirch , Richard Röstel , Gustav Schuft , Carl Schuhmann , Hermann Weingärtner ) he won the silver medal as team leader. As the "squad leader", Hofmann did not do gymnastics himself, but gave the gymnastics commands from outside. He also received team silver with the German team in high bar gymnastics (Fritz Hofmann, Conrad Böcker, Alfred Flatow, Gustav Flatow, Georg Hillmar, Fritz Manteuffel, Karl Neukirch, Richard Röstel, Gustav Schuft, Carl Schuhmann, Hermann Weingärtner). There is also a third place in the individual rope climbing discipline.
Hofmann, who was also very successful in rowing and cycling, also took part in the next three Olympic events: in 1900 as a gymnast, in 1904 as team leader and in 1906 - at the Olympic Intermediate Games in Athens - again as a 100-meter runner (im Eliminated preliminary run) and as a preliminary gymnast.
He was awarded the Prussian Order of the Crown for his extraordinary services to the expansion and maintenance of physical exercises. Fritz Hofmann died on July 14, 1927 in Berlin after an intestinal operation.
Individual evidence
- ^ German Road Races eV: Fritz Hofmann ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
- Fritz Hofmann in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hofmann, Fritz |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German athlete and gymnast (participant in the first Olympic Summer Games in Athens in 1896) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 19, 1871 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Rossleben |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 14, 1927 |
| Place of death | Berlin |