Bill Schmidt was born on December 29,1947 and is a retired male American javelin thrower from the Pittsburgh suburb of Southview, Pennsylvania.
20 Facts About Bill Schmidt
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Bill Schmidt is the son of Helen and Louis Schmidt, and won the bronze medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
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Bill Schmidt's dad was born in Germany and came to the United States at the age of 7.
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Bill Schmidt attended Canon McMillan Senior High School in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania and competed in football and track and field.
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Bill Schmidt played American Legion Baseball and made the Western Pennsylvania All Star Team.
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Bill Schmidt later earned a full scholarship, throwing the javelin.
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Bill Schmidt earned All American honors and placed second at the NCAA Championships in 1970 at Des Moines, IA.
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Bill Schmidt graduated in August 1970 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a major in Business and minors in Psychology and Personnel Management.
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Bill Schmidt competed in the World University Games in Turin, Italy in September 1970.
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Bill Schmidt competed in the CISM Games, the World Military Championships with competition in over 20 sports and 40 countries.
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Bill Schmidt won the military championships, setting a new world military record in the javelin at Turku, Finland in August 1971.
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Bill Schmidt competed for the United States in the 1972 Summer Olympics held in Munich, Germany in the javelin throw where he won the bronze medal.
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Bill Schmidt still remains the only American to medal in the javelin event in the last 64 years.
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Bill Schmidt earned a post graduate scholarship and attended The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN.
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Bill Schmidt taught in the Knoxville City Schools at Central High School in Knoxville, TN and coached boys and girls cross country and track.
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Bill Schmidt won the USA National Championships in the javelin at UCLA in 1978 and was named "Javelin Thrower of the Decade" in the United States by Track and Field News.
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Bill Schmidt was named by the Sporting News as one of "The 100 most Powerful People in Sports" in 1996 and 1998.
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Bill Schmidt is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Exercise, Sport and Leisure Studies The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN.
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In 2013 Bill Schmidt was inducted into the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame.
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Bill Schmidt is an avid sports fan, motorcycle enthusiast and golfer.