Bill Schmidt (born December 29, 1947) is a retired male

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown as far as possible. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's de ...

er from the

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

suburb of Southview, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Helen and Louis Schmidt, and won the bronze medal at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

Biography

Family

His dad was born in Germany and came to the United States at the age of 7. His dad was a coal miner for 29 years and marched with

John L. Lewis John Llewellyn Lewis (February 12, 1880 – June 11, 1969) was an American leader of Labor unions in the United States, organized labor who served as president of the United Mine Workers, United Mine Workers of America (UMW) from 1920 to 1960. ...

, the UMW organizer and President. Bill is the youngest of seven children, six boys and one girl. He has an identical twin named Bob Schmidt.

Education and Career

Schmidt attended Canon McMillan Senior High School in

Canonsburg, Pennsylvania Canonsburg is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, southwest of Pittsburgh. The population was 9,735 at the 2020 census. Canonsburg was laid out by Colonel John Canon in 1789 and incorporated in 180 ...

and competed in football and track and field. He played

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

and threw the javelin. His personal best in the javelin was 204'4". He played American Legion Baseball and made the

Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the Unite ...

All Star Team. He also had a tryout with professional baseball. Bill graduated in June 1965. In 1966 he was a walk-on track and field athlete at North Texas State University (later named

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

) in

Denton, TX Denton is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Denton County. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the 20th-most populous city in Texas, the 177th-most populous city in the United States, and the 10th-most popu ...

where he earned a full scholarship, throwing the javelin. His sophomore year his best throw was 219'2", his junior year 253'1" and his senior year 280'7". He earned All American honors and placed second at the NCAA Championships in 1970 at Des Moines, IA. He was also named track captain his senior year. He graduated in August 1970 with a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree with a major in Business and minors in Psychology and Personnel Management. He competed in the

World University Games The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

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in September 1970 and again in 1975 in Rome, Italy, where he won the silver medal. On September 20, 1970, he was drafted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. He did his Basic Training at Ft. Dix, NJ and his Advanced Infantry Training at Ft. Polk, LA. He was stationed at

Fort Ord Fort Ord is a former United States Army post on Monterey Bay on the Pacific Ocean coast in California, which closed in 1994 due to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action. Most of the fort's land now makes up the Fort Ord National Monument, ...

, CA,

Fort MacArthur Fort MacArthur is a former United States Army installation in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California (now the port community of Los Angeles). A small section remains in military use by the United States Air Force as a housing and administrative ann ...

, CA and the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

at West Point, NY. He competed in the CISM (

Conseil International du Sport Militaire The International Military Sports Council (IMSC; , CISM) is an international sports association, established in 1948 and headquartered in Brussels. It is the world's second-largest multi-discipline sports organisation, after the International Ol ...

) Games, the

World Military Championships The World Military Championships (WMC) are the world championships of the military sports, regularly organized by the Conseil International du Sport Militaire (CISM), covering 25 sports. History CISM had its roots in World War II, with efforts t ...

with competition in over 20 sports and 40 countries. He won the military championships, setting a new world military record in the javelin at

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, Finland in August 1971. He competed for the United States in the

held in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

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in the javelin throw where he won the bronze medal. He still remains the only American man to medal in the javelin event since 1952. He earned a post graduate scholarship and attended the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

, Knoxville, TN. There he earned a Master of Science (MS) degree in Business Education with a concentration in accounting in 1976. He taught in the Knoxville City Schools at Central High School in Knoxville, TN and coached boys' and girls' cross country and track. He won the USA National Championships in the javelin at UCLA in 1978 and was named "Javelin Thrower of the Decade" (the 1970s) in the United States by Track and Field News. His career best was 283'2".

Sports Business

In the sports marketing world, he is considered a pioneer and a giant in the industry. He was named by the

Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

as one of "The 100 most Powerful People in Sports" in 1996 and 1998. In 2014, The Sports Business Daily/Global/Journal awarded its Champions Award to Schmidt recognizing him as a Pioneer & Innovator in Sports Business. His career positions include Director of Sports at the

1982 World's Fair The 1982 World's Fair, officially known as the Knoxville International Energy Exposition (KIEE) and simply as Energy Expo '82 and Expo '82, was an international exposition held in Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Focu ...

Knoxville, TN 1982, Director of Development, Stokely Van Camp, Indianapolis, IN 1983, Vice President of Sports at the Los Angeles Olympics, Los Angeles, CA 1984, Vice President of Worldwide Sports Marketing at Gatorade, Chicago, IL 1984–1999, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Oakley Inc., Foothills Ranch, CA 1999, former President, Pegasus Sports Marketing, Knoxville, TN. He is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Exercise, Sport and Leisure Studies The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN. He is retired and recently, November 15, 2022, published his life story, 'Southview to Gettysvue, From a Coal Camp to Olympic Podium, to Courtside with Michael Jordan'. In 2013, Schmidt was inducted into the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame.

Personal Interests

He is an avid sports fan, world traveler and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

er.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Bill American male javelin throwers Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Jewish American track and field athletes Sportspeople from Washington County, Pennsylvania Track and field athletes from Pennsylvania American twins Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Living people 1947 births FISU World University Games silver medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1975 Summer Universiade 21st-century American Jews Jews from Pennsylvania 20th-century American sportsmen North Texas Mean Green men's track and field athletes