Alfred August Jochim (June 12, 1902 – March 17, 1980) was an American

gymnast Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

. He was born in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

, and died in

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. The town is know for their pancake throwing contest held ...

. He was a member of the

United States men's national artistic gymnastics team The United States men's artistic gymnastics team represents the United States in Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, FIG international competitions. History The first national team roster was established in 1998. The team has competed at ...

and won two

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

s in

gymnastics at the 1932 Summer Olympics At the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, eleven events in gymnastics were contested. The competitions were held from Monday, August 8, 1932 to Friday, August 12, 1932. Medal summary Participating nations A total of 46 gymnasts from seven nat ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. As a gymnast, Jochim was a member of Swiss

Turnverein Turners (, ) are members of German-American gymnastic clubs called Turnvereine. They promoted German culture, physical culture, and liberal politics. Turners, especially Francis Lieber (1798–1872), were the leading sponsors of gymnastics as ...

Union City, New Jersey Union City is a City (New Jersey), city in the North Hudson, New Jersey, northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city was List of municipalities in Ne ...

. He won seven titles at the national level, the last one in 1933. He held the American record for most individual titles until

Simone Biles Simone Arianne Biles Owens ( Biles; born March 14, 1997) is an American Artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. Her 11 Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals make her the most decorated gymnast in history. She is widely regarded as one ...

won her eighth national title in 2023. Jochim emigrated from Germany to the United States as a child and lived in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

in Union City and Hackensack, before moving to Lodi a decade before his death."Alfred Jochim, 77; was Olympic medalist"
''

Herald News The ''Herald News'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper headquartered in Woodland Park, New Jersey, that focuses on the Passaic County, New Jersey area. Today's ''Herald News'' is descended from several papers, but did not come to be until two ...

'', March 19, 1980. Accessed November 13, 2023, via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. It is owned by The ...

. "Funeral services will be Friday for Alfred A. Jochim, 77, who died Monday at Holy Name Hospital, Teaneck. Mr. Jochim was born in Germany and came to this country in 1905. He lived in Union City and Hackensack before moving to Lodi 11 years ago."

References

External links

* 1902 births 1980 deaths Gymnasts from Berlin Gymnasts from New Jersey American male artistic gymnasts Olympic silver medalists for the United States in gymnastics Gymnasts at the 1924 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1928 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1932 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1936 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1932 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Bergen County, New Jersey Sportspeople from Hudson County, New Jersey 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-Olympic-medalist-stub