Aeronautics at the 1936 Summer Olympics

Aeronautics
at the Games of the XI Olympiad
Date1936
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Hermann Schreiber  Switzerland

An Olympic gold medal for aeronautics was awarded in conjunction with the 1936 Summer Olympics for the greatest aeronautic achievement in the preceding four years.

The winner was Swiss pilot Hermann Schreiber,[1] who won for becoming the first person to fly over the Alps in a glider.[2] Most sources report his flight taking place in 1935,[3][4][5][6] though Thomas Lippert of the Journal of Sports Philately stated it was on August 4, 1933.[2] Schreiber received his medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.[7]

A prize for aeronautics had been considered by the International Olympic Committee as early as the 1920s,[7][8] though it remained unused until 1936. The aeronautics prize was not awarded again and was officially discontinued in 1946, along with the prize for alpinism.[2]

  1. ^ Grasso, J.; Mallon, B.; Heijmans, J. (2015). Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement. Historical Dictionaries of Sports. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-4422-4860-1. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  2. ^ a b c Lippert, Thomas (September 1999). "Over the Clouds: Aeronautic Achievements Focused on by Olympic and Sports Philatelists" (PDF). Journal of Sports Philately. 38 (1): 17-22. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  3. ^ Hansen, Peter (2023-03-01). "Wildest dreams of Everest and modern mountaineering". Les Sports Modernes (PDF). p. 63. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  4. ^ Borja, Elizabeth (2016-08-05). "The Year Aeronautics Was an Olympic Event". National Air and Space Museum. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  5. ^ "Olympedia – Aeronautics, Open". Olympedia – Main Page. 1936-08-16. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  6. ^ Steffen, Daniel (2017-08-04). "Die Segelflieger erobern die Alpen". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2024-08-08.
  7. ^ a b Kluge, Volker; Lippert, Thomas (2013). "The Olympic Alpinism Prize and a promise redeemed" (PDF). International Society of Olympic Historians. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2024-01-27. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
  8. ^ "Olympedia – Aeronautics at the 1936 Summer Olympics". Olympedia – Main Page. 1936-08-16. Retrieved 2024-01-28.