Adelheid Barbara SCHMID

Foil fencer Heidi Schmid was born in Klagenfurt in Austria, but participated in three consecutive Olympic Games for Germany. In 1960 and 1964 she was a member of the mixed German team, and in 1968 she competed for West Germany. In 1960 she won the gold medal in the individual foil and placed fourth with the women’s team. For her gold medal she was honored with the Silver Bay Leaf, the highest sports award in Germany. Four years later she won the bronze medal with the team, and in 1968 she finished fifth with the team and seventh in the individual event.

Nonetheless, her greatest year came in 1961 when she became World Champion and World Student Champion and was elected Sportswoman of the Year in West Germany. In 1957 she earned the individual and team silver medals at the Worlds, and also won two bronze medals with the foil teams in 1961 and 1965.

Schmid later became a music teacher. Her husband gave her a trip to Rome for her 70th birthday in 2008, to visit the town where she won the Olympic gold medal.