West German rower Michael Reinartz, brother of Anton and Stefan Reinartz, finished fifth, and last, in the final with the coxed eights at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games. With his club Kölner ...

Ralph Purchase was the coxswain for the Cal/Berkeley eight at the 1948 Olympics. Though Cal had had an indifferent season, losing twice to Washington during the year, they defeated the Huskies in the ...

Travis Mayer grew up skiing in western New York at Holiday Valley Ski Area. In high school, he moved to Killington Mountain School in Vermont to concentrate on skiing, making the US Ski Team when he ...

A member of the large Swedish team, Yngve Stiernspetz won a gold medal in the Swedish System Team competition, an event only held at the 1912 Stockholm and 1920 Antwerpen Olympics. A volunteer with ...

Paul Samson competed in both swimming and water polo at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. Samson swam in the heats of the 4x200 freestyle relay. Samson swam for the Illinois Athletic Club. He attended the ...

Steve Wood had the following podium finishes at the Flatwater World Championships: 2nd 1991 K4 10000 m (with Ramon Andersson, Clint Robinson, and Ian Rowling), 3rd 1986 K2 1000 m (with Grant Kenny).

Leo Massa played baseball at Red Bank High School in New Jersey, eventually getting a tryout with the Brooklyn Dodgers. But he turned to cross-country skiing, winning the 1958 US championship, and ...

Forward Ville Peltonen débuted at the Finnish Championships in 1991 with HIFK. The NHL franchise San Jose Sharks drafted Peltonen in 1993, but he decided to stay with HIFK for two more seasons before ...

As a young boy, Floyd Bedbury wrote down his goals as winning city, state, and national championships in speed skating. He later said he didn't know about the Olympics or he would have included that ...

John Friedberg was a sabre fencer who attended college at the University of North Carolina. Friedberg won two gold medals in team sabre at the Pan American Games, winning in 1991 and 1995. He was the ...

French sculptor and graphic artist René Iché studied law before studying sculpture and architecture in Paris. His daughter Laurence Iché (1921-2007) later became a surrealistic poet and was often his ...

Jani Lehtonen was Finland's best pole vaulter. When he died aged only 40, he still held the Finnish records with 5.82 m (outdoor) and 5.83 (indoor). Winner of four national titles in the event, ...