Simone Schaller

Simone Estelle Schaller Kirin (born August 22, 1912 in Manchester , Connecticut , † October 20, 2016 in Arcadia , California ) was an American athlete who was successful in hurdles.

Simone Schaller at a competition in June 1932

Career

Simone Schaller was born in the small town of Manchester in the US state of Connecticut. She was the child of a Swiss and an Italian. Simone had a brother and a sister. The family moved to California when Simone was seven because of her father's asthma. Simone attended high school in Monrovia , where she also began to play sports. She was active in athletics, volleyball, baseball, and basketball. After graduating from school, she found a job as an office worker and was also involved in organizing evening games for the basketball and softball league.

In 1932 she became a member of the Los Angeles Athletic Association and began her athletics training there. She was particularly encouraged and motivated by Aileen Allen, who had participated as a water diver in the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp . She trained all of them, Simone began to concentrate on the hurdles sprints. Just three months after starting her training, she competed in the eliminations for the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The US Trials took place in Stanford , California . Surprisingly, Schaller made it into the US team after finishing third.

In Los Angeles, the women's 80-meter hurdles were held for the first time at the Olympic Games. Simone Schaller competed against her teammate Mildred Didriksen and the South African Marjorie Clark in her preliminary run . Schaller took second place in 11.8 seconds behind Didrikson at the same time and was thus qualified for the final. In the final it ran again for 11.8 s, but remained behind the simultaneous Marjorie Clark in 4th place. Didrikson won the race in a new world record time of 11.7 s ahead of Evelyne Hall .

In 1933 Simone Schaller became the US champion in the 80 meter hurdles. Her club was unable to send her to athletics meetings across the country for financial reasons. To keep in shape, Schaller played basketball for a club in El Monte . The league was not sanctioned by the Amateur Athletic Union , so Schaller could play there without losing the amateur status required for the Olympic Games.

Since her athletics club was able to support the athletes for events again from 1936, Simone Schaller resumed her training at the beginning of the year. The Olympic qualifications for Berlin took place on Randalls Island in New York . Thanks to private donations and the support of the city of Monrovia, Schaller was able to start her journey to the other side of the continent. As the third, she managed to qualify for Berlin. She won her lead in 11.8 seconds. In the semifinals it seemed like she was third and thus qualified for the final. But the Italian team lodged a protest, which was granted. Instead of Schaller, the Italian Claudia Testoni was now in third place. On their return, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia presented the US team with the key to the city of New York.

Next life

Simone Schaller ended her athletics career in 1937. She married the baseball player Joseph Kirin, who was a semi-professional. She actively played softball herself. With Joseph Kirin she had three children, two boys and a girl. Simone Schaller started a catering service for Temple City High School . Simone Schaller passed away on October 20, 2016, at the age of 104. She was the oldest living Olympian at the time.

Web links

Commons : Simone Schaller  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Simone Schaller in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Interview with Simone Schaller from August 1988