William David SCHMIDT

Bill Schmidt grew up in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania where he and a friend, Tom Dettorre, starred together in baseball. Dettorre went on to the major leagues but Schmidt turned to the javelin. He attended North Texas State University, where he placed second with the spear at the 1970 NCAA Championships. Schmidt was serving as a private in the Army at the time of the Olympics, and went to München with a personal best of 270-6 (82.45), but at the Games he improved to 276-11½ (84.42) to take the bronze medal. In 1976, Schmidt won his only major championship when he took the AAU title.

Schmidt later earned a master's degree from the University of Tennessee, was on the coaching staff at UT and was the sports director for the 1982 Knoxville World's Fair. He was vice president of sports for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. He also spent 15 years as vice president for worldwide marketing for Gatorade and one year as CEO of Oakley, an eyeglass and apparel company. In 2001, Schmidt started his own sports marketing and consulting firm, Pegasus. He also served as an adjunct professor in the department of exercise and sport at the University of Tennessee beginning in 2002.

Personal Best: JT – 283-2 (86.31) (1973).