Joseph "Josy" Barthel (24 April 1927 – 7 July 1992) was a

Luxembourgish Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide. The language is standardized and officiall ...

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

and politician. He was the surprise winner of the Men's

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

, and the only athlete representing Luxembourg to have won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

at the Olympics. Besides athletics, Barthel also led successful careers in both chemistry and politics.

Biography

Born in Mamer, Josy Barthel's abilities as a middle-distance runner were discovered during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. His first fame came by winning the 800 m at the Military World Championships 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 ...

in 1947. The next year at Military World Championships in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

he won both 800 m and 1500 m. At the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Barthel finished ninth at the 1500 m final. Then he won Student World Championships in 1949 (1500 m) and 1951 (800 m and 1500 m). The absolute high point of Barthel's career was the

, where he surprised the crowd and himself by winning the 1500 m with a very strong finish. He also participated at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

, after which he retired from running. He was also Luxembourg champion in 800 m and 1500 m from 1946 to 1956. In 1962 Barthel became the president of the Luxembourg Athletics Federation, then from 1973 to 1977 he was the president of the Luxembourgish Olympic and Sporting Committee. A member of the Democratic Party, he later entered politics, serving as a minister from 1977 to 1984 in the Thorn-Vouel-Berg and Werner-Thorn-Flesch governments. Josy Barthel died in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...

after a severe illness. The former national stadium of Luxembourg, home until September 2021 to the national football team, was named Stade Josy Barthel in his honor. The Lycée Technique Josy Barthel in Mamer also bears his name. In 2006, Barthel was accused of doping by sports journalist Erik Eggers in the German newspaper ''

Der Tagesspiegel (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington, D.C., and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, since reunificati ...

.'' Eggers cited German physician Oskar Wegener who did research on

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug use, recreational or Performance-enhancing substance, performance-enhancing drug and less commonly as a secon ...

and other doping substances in the 1950s. Wegener strongly denied saying Barthel had any connection with doping. The use of such substances was neither prohibited nor controlled until the 1960s.

Footnotes

External links

* , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Barthel, Josy Luxembourgian male middle-distance runners Luxembourgian sportsperson-politicians Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Luxembourg Olympic gold medalists for Luxembourg Ministers for the environment of Luxembourg Ministers for transport of Luxembourg Ministers for energy of Luxembourg Councillors in Luxembourg City Democratic Party (Luxembourg) politicians Luxembourgian chemists 1927 births 1992 deaths People from Mamer Sportspeople from Capellen (canton) Alumni of the Athénée de Luxembourg Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field)