Uwe Schmitt (17 August 1961 – 17 December 1995) was a German sprinter and

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

. He competed in the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

and won five medals in the

West German Athletics Championships The West German Athletics Championships () was an annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the German Athletics Association, which served as the West German national championships for the sport. The two- or three-day event was held i ...

Career

At the 1979 European Junior Championships, he won a gold medal in the 4 × 400 metres relay. He competed in the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Summer Olympics, Olympic Sport of athletics, athletics programme since 1900 Summer Olympics, 1900 for men and since 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 for women. On a ...

and

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track and field, track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap, totaling 1600 meters. It is traditionally the final event of ...

at the

representing West Germany. He also competed at the 1987 World Championships, but was knocked out in the heats. In the 400 m hurdles, he won the silver medal at the 1985 West German championships behind the long-reigning

Harald Schmid Harald Schmid (; born 29 September 1957) is a retired German track and field athlete who competed in the sprints and hurdles. He was one of the best 400 metres hurdles runners in the world during his career. Career Schmid won bronze with the Wes ...

, and four bronze medals in 1983, 1984, 1986, and 1988. He represented the club

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

. His personal best times were 46.19 seconds in the 400 metres and 49.39 seconds in the 400 metres hurdles, both achieved in August 1985 in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

Death

He died in 1995 at the age of 34. The cause of death was

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmitt, Uwe 1961 births 1995 suicides 1995 deaths Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics West German male sprinters West German male hurdlers Olympic athletes for West Germany World Athletics Championships athletes for West Germany Suicides in Germany Suicides by poison Sportspeople from Marburg Athletes from Hesse Eintracht Frankfurt athletes