Fritz Tschannen (13 May 1920 – 23 March 2011) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

player and former

ski jumper Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fin ...

born in

Saint-Imier Saint-Imier () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Jura bernois (administrative district), Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking Bernese Jura (''Jura Be ...

, who competed at the

1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (; ; ; ) and commonly known as St. Moritz 1948 (; ), were a winter multi-sport event held from 30 January to 8 February 1948 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The Games were the ...

St. Moritz St. Moritz ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in the administrative region of Maloja in the Swiss ...

. He received his first accordion at the age of five and gave his first solo concert three years later. By the age of 18 he was working as an accordion teacher, in addition to ski jumping out of Skiclub

Adelboden Adelboden is a mountain village and a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Switzerland, located in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental (administrative district), Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the Bernese Highlands. Geogra ...

Career

He joined the Swiss National Team in 1945 and attended the Winter Olympic Games three years later, where he placed ninth in a field of forty-nine competitors in the men's normal hill event. The same year he became the Swiss national champion. On 15 March 1948 he set a new world record distance with a jump of 120 metres (394 ft) at Bloudkova velikanka hill in

Planica Planica () is an Alpine valley in northwestern Slovenia, extending south from the border village of Rateče, not far from another well-known ski resort, Kranjska Gora. Further south, the valley extends into the Tamar Valley, a popular hikin ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

Personal life

After his experience at the Olympics, Tschannen was invited to train with the United States team, but moved to Canada when he was denied a work visa because of the ongoing

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. He had a career with the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

from 1952–1954 as a musician and orchestrator, including a stint with his own French-language television show. He returned to his native country in 1964 and founded a musical school in the city of

Bex Bex (; ; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland, located in the Aigle (district), district of Aigle. It is a few kilometers south of its sister town municipality of Aigle. History Bex is first ment ...

. He worked as a conductor until 1999, when he retired to the municipality of

Fleurier Fleurier was a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Val-de-Travers (district), Val-de-Travers in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Neuchâtel (canton), Neuchâtel in Switzerland. On 1 January 2009, the former municip ...

. He died in

Val-de-Travers Val-de-Travers is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. It was created on 1 January 2009, when the former municipalities of Boveresse, Buttes, Neuchâtel, Buttes, Couvet, Fleurier, Les Bayards, ...

in March 2011.

Ski jumping world record

References

1920 births 2011 deaths Olympic ski jumpers for Switzerland Ski jumpers at the 1948 Winter Olympics Swiss male ski jumpers 20th-century Swiss sportsmen {{Switzerland-skijumping-bio-stub