Wolfgang SCHMIDT

Discus thrower Wolfgang Schmidt won a discus silver at the 1976 Montréal Olympic Games and came in fourth four years later in Moskva. He won the 1977 and 1979 World Cups. At the European Championships he was eighth in 1974, won gold in 1978 (adding a bronze in the shot), and added a bronze in 1990, competing by then for West Germany. Schmidt won the European Cup in 1975, 1977 and 1979. He was East German national champion for six consecutive years 1975-80. At the last international match before reunification between the former GDR and West Germany, in 1988, East German winner Jürgen Schult caused an uproar when he did not accept congratulations from Schmidt. In 1992 Schmidt won the West German Championship.

Schmidt made headlines in 1982 when he planned his escape to West Germany, but was betrayed and sentenced to prison for 1½ years. After his release, he was given a job as a coach in the Stasi-regulated Wachregiment of Adlershof and applied for immigration papers, which were deliberately delayed until the end of 1987, so that he could not compete at the 1988 Seoul Olympics for West Germany. His story was later written by William Oscar Johnson and Anita Verschoth, entitled Thrown Free. Schmidt eventually immigrated to the United States and worked as a stock exchange and management consultant.

Personal Best: DT – 71.16 (1978).