It was announced on Wednesday that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and NBC, the United States television network that has televised the Summer Olympics since 1988, have signed an agreement extending NBC’s hegemony over the Summer Olympics in the United States through 2032. The fee was $7.65 billion (US) – that’s billion, which sounds like a huge amount of Franklins – for the rights to the Summer and Winter Games from 2022-2032. We’ll disregard the $100,000,000 signing bonus, presumably for the IOC signing their name nicely, which technically makes it $7.75 billion. How does this compare to previous Olympic television rights in the United States and how have they increased over time?

The Olympic Games have been televised in the United States since 1960. In 1960 CBS Television paid Rome $394,940 for the rights fee, and CBS also paid Squaw Valley $50,000 for the rights fee. Looks like those fees have really skyrocketed over the years, and it continues to skyrocket. As we always do, let’s look at the numbers.

Below are all the Summer Olympics since 1960, with the host city, the US network televising them, and the rights fee. In the far right column, we have calculated the change in rights fees (ΔRF) since 1960. As you can see the US television rights for the Summer Olympics have gone up almost 400000% since 1960. Now we made a few assumptions for 2024-2032. It is known that the rights for 2022/2024, 2026/2028, and 2030/2032 are divvied up as $2.50B, $2.55B, and $2.60B. It isn’t yet known how much of that is allocated to the Summer Olympics and how much to the Winter Olympics. We arbitrarily allocated 60% of each period to the Summer Olympics and 40% to the Winter Olympics, which is approximately the historical average.

[table]

Year,Host,Network,Rights Fee,ΔRF

1960,Rome,CBS,$394940,—

1964,Tokyo,NBC,$1500000,380%

1968,Mexico City,ABC,$4500000,1139%

1972,Munich,ABC,$13500000,3418%

1976,Montréal,ABC,$25000000,6330%

1980,Mockba,NBC,$85000000,21522%

1984,Los Angeles,ABC,$225600000,57123%

1988,Seoul,NBC,$300000000,75961%

1992,Barcelona,NBC,$401000000,101534%

1996,Atlanta,NBC,$456000000,115461%

2000,Sydney,NBC,$705000000,178508%

2004,Athens,NBC,$793500000,200917%

2008,Beijing,NBC,$893000000,226110%

2012,London,NBC,$1181000000,299033%

2016,Rio de Janeiro,NBC,$1226000000,310427%

2020,Tokyo,NBC,$1418000000,359042%

2024,TBD,NBC,$1500000000,379805%

2028,TBD,NBC,$1530000000,387401%

2032,TBD,NBC,$1560000000,394997%

[/table]

This is what the chart of those increases looks like, showing the huge upward trend although it does seem to taper off a bit at the right-hand side of the chart.

Here are the corresponding numbers for the US television rights for the Winter Olympics. The original fee of $50,000 for Squaw Valley will increase to $1,040,000,000 for the 2030 Winter Olympics, wherever they may be held. This is an absolute increase even greater than for the Summer Olympics, checking in at just over a 2000000% (that’s 2 million percent) increase, mainly due to the pittance paid for the 1960 rights.

[table]

Year,Host,Network,Rights Fee,ΔRF

1960,Squaw Valley,CBS,$50000,—

1964,Innsbruck,ABC,$597326,1195%

1968,Grenoble,ABC,$2000000,4000%

1972,Sapporo,NBC,$6401000,12802%

1976,Innsbruck,ABC,$10000000,20000%

1980,Lake Placid,ABC,$15500000,31000%

1984,Sarajevo,ABC,$91550000,183100%

1988,Calgary,ABC,$309000000,618000%

1992,Albertville,CBS,$243000000,486000%

1994,Lillehammer,CBS,$295000000,590000%

1998,Nagano,CBS,$375000000,750000%

2002,Salt Lake City,NBC,$545000000,1090000%

2006,Torino,NBC,$613400000,1226800%

2010,Vancouver,NBC,$820000000,1640000%

2014,Sochi,NBC,$775000000,1550000%

2018,Pyeongchang,NBC,$963000000,1926000%

2022,TBD,NBC,$1000000000,2000000%

2026,TBD,NBC,$1020000000,2040000%

2030,TBD,NBC,$1040000000,2080000%

[/table]

Here’s what the chart of the Winter Olympics rights increases look like since 1960, again showing some flattening at the right-hand side, near 2022-2030.

So it looks like the US television networks, and since 1988, that pretty much means NBC, are paying out the wazoo for the Olympics, and possibly severely overpaying. But are they really? NBC announced very good ratings for the recent Sochi Olympics and announced that they were pleased with their return on investment (ROI).

How about if we look at the numbers for rights fees corrected against inflation? In 1960, a hamburger at McDonald’s, an Olympic sponsor since 1997, cost 25¢, while today the same hamburger costs you around $1.00. So based on that it appears that the US dollar has inflated about 4 times since 1960. But that only reflects the cost of a McDonald’s hamburger. The actual historical figures in the United States have the US dollar inflated about 8 times since 1960.

Now we have to make some assumptions to analyze this thru 2032, since we don’t know what inflation will be from 2014-2032. In our analysis below, we used an annual inflation rate of 2.81% in the US for 2014-2032, because that has been the annual inflation rate from 1988-2013, or the period when NBC really became the US Olympic Network.

So here is what the numbers look like, corrected against inflation. In the following we have used the benchmark as the value of the US dollar in 2000, a nice benchmark year as the end of the millennium.

[table]

Year,Host,Network,RRF,ΔARF,ΔRRF

1960,Rome,CBS,$2541996,—,—

1964,Tokyo,NBC,$9180704,361%,361.2%

1968,Mexico City,ABC,$25168221,990%,274.1%

1972,Munich,ABC,$61622693,2424%,244.8%

1976,Montréal,ABC,$83826050,3298%,136.0%

1980,Mockba,NBC,$205738715,8094%,245.4%

1984,Los Angeles,ABC,$384700667,15134%,187.0%

1988,Seoul,NBC,$446313591,17558%,116.0%

1992,Barcelona,NBC,$493600318,19418%,110.6%

1996,Atlanta,NBC,$499993768,19669%,101.3%

2000,Sydney,NBC,$705000000,27734%,141.0%

2004,Athens,NBC,$716275315,28178%,101.6%

2008,Beijing,NBC,$712879459,28044%,99.5%

2012,London,NBC,$867348798,34121%,121.7%

2016,Rio de Janeiro,NBC,$820155950,32264%,94.6%

2020,Tokyo,NBC,$846386112,33296%,103.2%

2024,TBD,NBC,$798858546,31426%,94.4%

2028,TBD,NBC,$727036786,28601%,91.0%

2032,TBD,NBC,$661417806,26020%,91.0%

[/table]

RRF = relative rights fee, ΔARRF = change in absolute relative rights fees (since 1960), ΔRRF = change in relative rights fees Olympics-to-Olympics

You can see that corrected against inflation, the rise in US television rights fees is not so dramatic, going up not 400K% since 1960, but about 26K%. Still a huge increase, but looking at it more closely, from 2000-2032 there will be very little change in the relative rights fees NBC is paying, corrected for inflation. In fact, from 2012-2032 the relative rights fees paid to the IOC will mostly decrease, except for a small upward blip for Tokyo in 2020. Here is what the chart looks like, which shows the downward trend starting after London (14 below).

 

Here are the similar figures for the Winter Olympics, again corrected against inflation from 1960-2030, using the same assumption about rates 2014-2030, and using the 2000 US dollar as the benchmark. Again note that the fees do not go up 2 million percent, but about 145000% – still a huge increase. But now starting in 2002, from Salt Lake City onward, there is not much change in relative US television rights fees. Again, after Vancouver in 2010 the trend is mostly downward, except for another small upward blip for Pyeongchang in 2018.

[table]

Year,Host,Network,RRF,ΔARF,ΔRRF

1960,Squaw Valley,CBS,$321820,—,—

1964,Innsbruck,ABC,$3655916,1136%,1136.0%

1968,Grenoble,ABC,$11185876,3476%,306.0%

1972,Sapporo,NBC,$29218286,9079%,261.2%

1976,Innsbruck,ABC,$33530420,10419%,114.8%

1980,Lake Placid,ABC,$37517060,11658%,111.9%

1984,Sarajevo,ABC,$156114123,48510%,416.1%

1988,Calgary,ABC,$459702999,142845%,294.5%

1992,Albertville,CBS,$299114407,92944%,65.1%

1994,Lillehammer,CBS,$341661893,106165%,114.2%

1998,Nagano,CBS,$389670308,121083%,114.1%

2002,Salt Lake City,NBC,$511728840,159011%,131.3%

2006,Torino,NBC,$520435355,161716%,101.7%

2010,Vancouver,NBC,$632247732,196460%,121.5%

2014,Sochi,NBC,$548863699,170550%,86.8%

2018,Pyeongchang,NBC,$608520791,189087%,110.9%

2022,TBD,NBC,$563813489,175195%,92.7%

2026,TBD,NBC,$513123568,159444%,91.0%

2030,TBD,NBC,$466811406,145053%,91.0%

[/table]

Here is the chart for the relative Winter Olympics rights fees, demonstrating the downward trend in the last few years of the NBC contracts. This shows that the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and the 2006 Winter Games in Torino (12/13 below) rights fees will be worth more than the 2030 Winter Olympics, and about the same as the 2026 Winter Olympics, in 2000 US dollars.

So it looked like a huge number – $7.65 billion – and it is, of course, in absolute dollars. But looking at it more carefully, correcting the time course corrections that will certainly occur in the US dollar, NBC may have gotten a bargain.

However, the IOC also guaranteed itself money thru 2032, ensuring a major source of its income, and it did so at rates approximately keeping pace with expected inflation. So this could certainly be a win-win deal for both parties.

Happy 75th birthday to Ralph Boston

See also http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/bo/ralph-boston-1.html

Born 9 May 1939 in Laurel, Mississippi (USA)

[table]
Year-Sport,Event,Place,
1960,Athletics,Long Jump, Gold
1964,Athletics,Long Jump, Silver
1968,Athletics,Long Jump, Bronze
[/table]

‘

Until a few weeks before the 1960 Olympics, Ralph Boston seemed no more than an average long jumper. But in August he beat Jesse Owens’ 25-year-old world record with a mark of 26-11¼ (8.21) and went on to take the gold medal. In 1961 he twice improved the record, becoming the first man to jump 27 feet (8.23), but then lost the record to Igor Ter-Ovanesyan of the Soviet Union in 1962. Boston equalled that mark in August 1964, broke it the following month, and in May 1965, set his last world record with 27-5 (8.35). Boston won the AAU outdoor long jump for six successive seasons (1961-1966), the AAU indoor in 1961, and the Pan American Games in 1963 and 1967. Competing for Tennessee State, he won the NCAA outdoor title in 1960. Boston was also a gifted performer in other events. In 1961 he was undefeated in the high hurdles and won the AAU indoor in 1965. He placed fourth in the 1963 Pan American Games high jump, and in that year headed the U.S. lists in the triple jump. Ralph Boston retired after the 1968 Olympics. He was later an administrator at the University of Tennessee.

Personal Bests: 100y – 9.6 (1964); 220y – 22.0 (1964); 120yH – 13.7 (1961); HJ – 6-8½ (2.04) (1962); PV – 13-8 (4.16) (1960); LJ – 27-5 (8.35) (1965); TJ – 52-1½ (15.89) (1964); JT – 169-0 (51.51) (1959).

On the 60th anniversary of the 1st 60-foot shot put.

See also http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ob/parry-obrien-1.html

Born 28 January 1932 in Santa Monica, California (USA)
Died 21 April 2007 in Santa Clarita, California (USA)

[table]
Year-Sport,Event,Place,
1952,Athletics,Shot put, Gold
1956,Athletics,Shot put, Gold
1960,Athletics,Shot put, Silver
1964,Athletics,Shot put, 4th
[/table]

Although his records have now been surpassed, Parry O’Brien is, by the standards of his contemporaries, the greatest shotputter of all time. Indoors and outdoors he won a total of 17 AAU titles and between July 1952 and June 1956 he ran up a winning streak of 116 consecutive victories. He broke the world record 17 times, although only 10 of these were ratified, and he was the first man to beat the 18-meter, 60-foot, and 19-meter barriers. O’Brien set his last world record in 1959, with 63-4 (19.30), but he continued to improve and set a career best of 64-7¼ (19.69) in 1966, two years after his final Olympic appearance in Tokyo, where he placed fourth. O’Brien was Pan American Games champion in 1955 and 1959 and, while at Southern Cal, he won the NCAA title in 1952 and 1953. He also added the 1955 AAU discus championship. In discus throw he also won two medal at the Pan American Games – silver in 1955 and bronze in 1959. Apart from his multiple victories and records, Parry O’Brien made a significant contribution to the sport by pioneering a new style which was copied by many of those who followed him as world record holders. He later worked in the banking and real estate business in Southern California.

Personal Bests: SP – 64-7¼ (19.69) (1966); DT – 196-10 (59.99) (1965).

The naked policeman who was the first Olympic walking champion.

Born 7 March 1875 in Langley, Slough (GBR)
Died 4 March 1949 in Brighton, Brighton and Hove (GBR)

[table]
Year-Sport,Event,Place,
1908, Athletic, 3500m walk,Gold
,,10 mile walk,Gold

[/table]

George Larner did not take up competitive walking until 1903 when he was 28-years old. In 1904, when still little more than a novice, he won both AAA titles, and he repeated the double the following year. Having won four AAA titles and set nine world records, Larner then decided to retire as he found that training interfered with his duties as a Brighton policeman. Fortunately, the Chief Constable of Brighton was persuaded to give Larner time off from work to train for the 1908 Olympic Games, and after a two-year absence, Larner reappeared on the track.

Although he had an exceptionally long stride, Larner was generally rated as a very fair stylist and it came as no surprise when he was disqualified in his first comeback race, the AAA 7 mile Championship in April 1908. He soon redeemed himself by winning the AAA 2 mile title in July and then won both the Olympic walking titles later than month.

After the Games, Larner retired again from race walking but he enjoyed some modest successes as a cross-country runner with Brighton & County Harriers and Highgate Harriers. In 1911 he made another comeback and won the AAA 7 miles title, but he did not stay in training for the 1912 Olympics. After he finally tired, George Larner became a respected race walking judge and when he died, at the age of 73, many of his British records were still intact.

He published a book, simply titled “Walking”, in which he gave the following advice – “When time permits, all clothing should be removed for a run round a secluded garden, especially it if be raining at the time”.

Personal Bests: Mile Walk – 6:26.0 (1904); 2 miles Walk – 13:11.4 (1904); 3 miles Walk – 20:25.8 (1905); 10kmW – 44:58.4e (1905); 7 miles Walk – 50:50.8 (1905); 10 miles Walk – 1-15:57.4 (1908); Hour Walk – 13,275 metres (8 miles, 438 yards) (1905).

With the tragic deaths of Yuliya Balykina, Laurent Vidal and Arnold Peralta, it is perhaps chilling to note that in the years since the London Olympic Games ended we have lost 18 men and women who competed at those Games. One competitor from the Sochi Olympics of 2014 has also passed away.

UPDATED 4 March 2016

Keitani Graham
Micronesia – Wrestling
Died 7 December 2012
Just 4 months after competing in the light-heavyweight section of the Greco-Roman wrestling tournament at London 2012, Keitani Graham suffered a fatal heart attack. He was just 32.

Burry Stander
South Africa – Cycling (Mountain biking)
Died 3 January 2013
An Olympian in Beijing and London, Burry Stander narrowly missed a medal in 2012 after being involved in the five man breakaway that decided the podium positions. He was killed after being hit by a taxi whilst on a training ride.

Andrew Simpson
Great Britain – Sailing
Died 9 May 2013
From amongst the competitors at London 2012 to have passed away, Simpson is the only British Olympic champion. The 2008 gold medallist was a crew member of the Swedish America’s Cup boat, Artemis Racing, when the catamaran capsized whilst training on San Francisco Bay. Simpson was trapped beneath the water line and rescuers were unable to revive him.

Yelena Ivashchenko
Russia – Judo
Died 15 June 2013
A medal favourite at the London Olympics, heavyweight judoka Yelena Ivashchenko was instead eliminated at the quarter final phase. Allied to this a serious leg injury also threatened to end her sporting career and the former European Champion was reportedly suffering from severe depression when she committed suicide by jumping from a 15th story window of her apartment block.

Billy Ward
Australia – Boxing
Died 4 August 2013
A farm boy from rural Queensland, Billy Ward represented Australia in the light-flyweight division at London 2012. Another Olympian to have suffered from depression, he is the 2nd on this list to have committed suicide. At just 20 years of age he is the youngest 2012 Olympian to have passed away.

Abdelrahman El-Trabily
Egypt – Wrestling
Died 16 August 2013
The 2011 African Championship silver medallist, El-Trabily was a graduate of Egypt’s prestigious Al-Azhar University and a teacher of the Quran by profession. He was shot and killed while taking part in a protest march in favour of the ousted President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Jakkrit Panichpatikum
Thailand – Shooting
Died 19 October 2013
A few months after returning from London Jakkrit Panichpatikum was arrested and charged with the attempted murder of his wife and mother-in-law and numerous other offences. Released on bail, he was sitting in his car when he was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting. His mother-in-law later confessed to have arranged the hit.

Christian López
Guatemala – Weightlifting
Died 6 November 2013
Super-heavyweight weightlifter Christian López competed at both the Beijing and London Olympics for his native Guatemala. The accountancy student passed away in late 2012 after suffering from a severe bout of Pneumonia.

Besik Kudukhov
Russia – Wrestling
Died 29 December 2013
Kudukov was the second medallist from the 2012 Games to have passed away. A 4 time world champion and Olympic medal winner in both 2008 and 2012, Kudukhov lost control over his car on the Kavkaz highway near Armavir and collided with a truck coming from the opposite direction. Kudukhov died at the scene.

Elena Baltacha
Great Britain – Tennis
Died 4 May 2014
A former top 50 player and British number one, Baltacha was diagnosed with an aggressive form of liver cancer in January 2014 and succumbed to the disease five months later.

Camille Muffat
France – Swimming
Died 9 March 2015
A winner of 4 European titles and 4 medals at the World championships, Muffat’s greatest moment came at the London Games when won the gold medal at 400m freestyle. She was voted France’s Sportswoman of the Year for her achievement. Muffat died in a helicopter accident during the filming of a reality show for French television. She was the first London 2012 Olympic champion to pass away.

Alexis Vastine
France – Boxing
Died 9 March 2015
Although he won silver at the European championships and bronze at the Beijing Olympics, Vastine was best known for being desperately unlucky to be on the wrong end of what felt to be two unjust decisions during his Olympic career. Like Muffat he was a victim of the helicopter disaster during filming of a TV show for the TF1 TV network.

Alexis Vastine

Daundre Burnaby
Canada – Athletics
Died 27 March 2015
The Jamaican born 400 m runner competed for Canada in London and at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where he was a semi-finalist. Burnaby drowned in the ocean off St. Kitts in the Caribbean where he was taking part in a training camp with his Canadian team mates.

Trevor Moore
USA – Sailing
Died 25 June 2015
Trevor Moore took an inflatable powerboat out from the US Sailing Centre in Miami on the morning of June. The boat was found drifting later the same day with no sign of Moore but with his belongings still inside. US Coastguard and Florida authorities searched for him but no trace has ever been found.

Yuliya Balykina
Belarus – Athletics
Died 28 October 2015
Yuliya Balykina competed in the sprint relay in London but her career virtually ended shortly afterwards when she received a two year ban for a doping offence. After her ban ended in summer 2015 she began to pursue a career as a personal trainer.
On the 28 October 2015 she suddenly disappeared and was never seen alive again. Three weeks later her dead body was found concealed in woodlands outside Minsk. An ex-boyfriend is currently in jail awaiting trial for her murder.

Laurent Vidal
France – Triathlon
10 November 2015
A consistent performer on the world scene, Vidal headed the ITU rankings in mid 2012 and was one of the medal favourites for the London Olympics. He finished the race in 5th position which was an improvement on his 36th place finish in 2008.
In 2014 Vidal suffered a heart attack while doing swim training and had to be placed in an induced coma for him to survive, which ended his triathlon career. Unfortunately, only one year later, Vidal sustained another cardiac arrest and died at age 31. At the time of his death, he was engaged to New Zealander and world-class triathlete Andrea Hewitt.

Arnold Peralta
Honduras – Football
10 December 2015
A right-sided midfielder, Peralta started his career with Honduran side C.D.S. Vida before joining Scottish team Glasgow Rangers in 2013 and helped his new team win the Scottish League One in 2013-14. He returned to his home country in 2015 to join Olimpia. Five days after Olimpia were defeated in the semi-finals of the national championships Peralta was gunned down by unknown assailants as he walked through in a shopping mall in his home town.

Sarah Outhwaite-Tait
Australia – Rowing
3 March 2016
After reaching finals at both the 2004 and 2008 Olympics the height of Sarah Tait’s Olympic career came at London 2012 when she won the silver medal as part of Australia’s coxless pair. In 2014 she was diagnosed with the cervical cancer that eventually claimed her life.
 

In addition, one competitor from the Sochi Olympics has died.
Nikolay Khrenkov
Russia – Bobsleigh
Died 2 June 2014
Less than four months after he was part of the Russian second string crew in Sochi, Nikolay Khrenkov was killed when his car was involved in a head-on collision near the town of Krasnoyarsk.

Two others who had a role at the London Olympics are also not with us anymore.

Mark Sutton
Died 14 August 2013
The stuntman who parachuted from a helicopter above the stadium during the opening ceremony dressed as James Bond. He died in a wing suit flying accident in the Swiss alps.

Sergei Ovchinnikov
Died 29 August 2012
Less than three weeks after the end of the 2012 Games, Russian volleyball coach Sergei Ovchinnikov committed suicide in his hotel room in Croatia

The figures from the previous Olympics are as follows;
2008 Olympians who died before the London Games = 15
2004 Olympians who died before the Beijing Games = 19

B. 4 May 1907; Union City, New Jersey, USA

D. 29 April 2014; at his home in Northern Virginia, USA

 

[table]

Year-Sport,Event,Finish

1948 Shooting,Free Pistol,12th

[/table]

 

Walter Walsh’s Olympic participation in 1948 seems like a footnote to a life of experiences known by few men. Born in New Jersey, Walsh graduated from Rutgers Law School and then in 1934 joined the FBI. A year later he was on the stakeout team in Chicago that apprehended Doc Barker, one of the most wanted criminals in the United States. Acting on a tip that same year, he also discovered the body of Chicago gangster Baby Face Nelson. Two years later he was involved in a shoot-out in Bangor, Maine with Al Brady, who was at the time Public Enemy #1 and who was killed during the shoot-out. In World War II he joined the Marine Corps and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He was commander of the Marine Corps’ marksmanship unit for several years and competed in the 1948 Olympics while in the Marines. When the FBI celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2007, Walsh was still around, by then 101-years-old, noting that he was older than the FBI, and he was the oldest living FBI agent. In March 2013 he surpassed Rudy Schrader to become the longest-lived Olympian of all-time.

The oldest living Olympian becomes Swiss artist Hans Erni, who was born 21 February 1909, who entered in the Art Competitions in 1948 at London, the last time they were held formally. The oldest living athlete is Chinese track & field Olympian Guo Jie from 1936.

For a more detailed story of Walsh’s life, see http://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/walter-walsh in American Rifleman, or USA Shooting’s story on him at http://www.usashooting.org/news/2013/5/2/352-1948-olympian-walter-walsh-to-celebrate-106th-birthday-on-saturday-may-4, or Alan Abrahamson’s nice story at http://www.3wiresports.com/2011/05/19/americas-oldest-living-olympian-walter-walsh-104/ or our site at http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/wa/walter-walsh-1.html

 

see also http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/vo/walther-von-mumm-1.html

Born 13 January 1887 in Frankfurt am Main, Hessen (GER)
Died 10 August 1959 in Göppingen, Baden-Württemberg (GER)

[table]
Year,Sport,Event,Place,
1932, Bobsleigh, Four man,7

[/table]

A member of the family that founded the Mumm champagne business, Walther von Mumm was known as a horseman, a pioneer aviator and especially as a balloonist. Before the First World War he regularly took part in long distance balloon races all over North America including major races at St. Louis and Kansas City. The second son of Baron von Mumm, Walther was given control of the H.G. Mumm Extra Dry Company and with clever advertising turned the brand into a major name, notably in the American market. When his brother, Henri, unexpectedly died he took over as head of the entire Mumm Company and inherited the estimated $20,000,000 family fortune. In 1912 he became engaged to Frances Scoville, an American heiress, but before this had been made public he travelled from St. Moritz to Paris to break this news to his former mistress, Marie von Rensimer. A former waitress from Philadelphia, von Rensimer was considered one of the world’s great beauties and had a string of wealthy lovers and admirers. This meeting ended disastrously for von Mumm, the precise details of incident were hushed up but what is clear is that Walther ended with two bullets in his left lung after Marie had pulled a gun on him.

Although the von Mumm family had resided in France for over a hundred years, Walther had himself been born in Germany and on the outbreak of World War I was considered an enemy subject. Instead of internment in France for the period of the war he chose to return to Germany. Walther refused to fight on the Western Front out of a loyalty to his French upbringing and instead served against the Russians on the Eastern front. He was wounded, again in the lung, by Russian gunfire.

The years immediately after the war were disastrous; the French government claimed the entire Mumm business empire as part of the reparation process against Germany, he was estranged from his wife, who later died following an appendectomy, and was involved in a lengthy custody battle over his daughter. His remaining business interests in Germany, still valued in millions of dollars, were lost after the collapse of the reichsmark and German hyper-inflation. He still had the rights to the Mumm brand in the United States but the introduction of prohibition meant this was rendered worthless overnight. With what remained of his fortune he invested in Wall Street and again amassed a substantial fortune before the Wall Street crash of 1929 left him penniless.

Von Mumm took a job in a brokerage firm and rented a $10 dollar a month room in a New York boarding house whilst concealing his financial plight from his friends. In October 1931, whilst staying at a friend’s house, he attempted suicide. Leaving a note with the words, “Bury me as I am and keep this out of the newspapers”, he attempted to shoot himself in the heart, but he missed and for a fourth time suffered a bullet wound to the same lung. Although the initial prognosis was poor, he rallied and eventually made a recovery. The Winter Olympics were held four months later in Lake Placid and the German bobsleigh team suffered a number of serious crashes which left them very short of personnel. Walther von Mumm had some previous bobsleigh experience in St. Moritz and remarkably was called to drive the Germany II bob with a completely inexperienced team, they finished in seventh place.

The first female Olympic champion

See also http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/de/helene-countess-de-pourtales-1.html

Born
28 April 1868 in New York, New York (USA)
Died
2 November 1945 in Genève (Geneva) (SUI)

[table]
Year-Sport,Event,Place,
1900, Sailing, Open class,AC
,,1-2 ton class Race 1,Gold
,,1-2 ton class Race 2,Silver

[/table]

On 22 May 1900 she was part of the crew of the yacht Lérina which won the first of the two regattas in the 1-2 ton class, and three days later the same crew placed second in the second race of that class. This made her the first woman to compete at the Olympics and the first female Olympic medalist.

She was born Helen Barbey, to parents Henry Barbey and Mary Lorillard Barbey – the latter from a very wealthy family, in which Pierre Lorillard had founded a tobacco empire. Her father was an affluent banker. In 1891, in the American church of Saint-Trinité in Paris, she married Hermann Alexandre, Count de Pourtalès, the son of Alexandre and Augusta Saladin, from an old Huguenot family. He was a captain in the Cuirassiers de la Garde regiment in the Prussian Army. They had three daughters. She inherited a passion for horses from her mother’s side of the family (Pierre Lorillard was the first American owner to win the British Derby in 1881, with the horse Iroquois), and a love for sailing. The Lorillards were central figures in the Newport community, where America’s Cup regattas were held in that era. In one of her diaries, later sold by auction, Hélène provides a vivid description of watching the 1887 America’s Cup. Hélène de Pourtalès lived in Paris and Géneve, and in 1900, she watched the Olympic golf tournament, in which her husband’s cousin Jacques was a course referee. Hélène had a dual passport, Swiss and American, while her husband had dual Swiss-German nationality.

Born 26 April 1909 in Cloughjordan (IRL)
Died 10 April 2012 in Killiney (IRL)

[table]
Year,Sport,Event,Place,
1948, Fencing, individual foil,7 p1 r1/4

[/table]

Dorothy Dermody, the daughter of a ship’s captain, spent her youth traveling aboard her father’s vessels. In order to circumvent rules that permitted the captain only one female companion, her father would cut her hair short and dress her as a young boy so that both mother and daughter could accompany him on his journeys. While sailing she was referred to as “Tommy”, a name that she retained in her athletic endeavors. She played lacrosse and squash at the national level, but was most accomplished in the fields of diving and fencing. She captured Irish championships in both sports, but it was for her skills in the former that she was offered the chance to compete at the 1948 Summer Olympics. When the time came, however, she requested to be entered into the fencing tournament instead. Her wish was granted, but she failed to advance beyond the opening round of the individual foil after losing all of her bouts.

Even outside of active competition, Dermody’s life revolved around athletics and she served as a teacher of physical education in several different capacities, most notably at Alexandra College from 1943 through 1958. She also took her love of sport public, heading campaigns to get playgrounds in every school in the country and to get children more involved in aquatic activities. At her death in 2012 she was Ireland’s oldest living Olympic competitor and the longest-lived Olympic fencer of all time.

Born 24 April 1927 in Mamer (LUX)
Died 7 July 1992 in Luxembourg (LUX)

[table]
Year-Sport,Event,Place,
1948, Athletics,800m,6h1 r2/3
,,1500m,10
1952,,1500m, Gold
1956,,1500m, 10 h1 r1/2

[/table]

Josy Barthel’s abilities as a middle-distance runner were discovered during World War II. He first came to fameby winning the 800 metres at the 1947 Military World Championships. In 1948 he won both 800 and 1,500 metre events at the Military World Championships. At the 1948 London Olympics Barthel finished ninth in the 1,500 metre final. He then won Student World Championships in 1949 (1,500 m) and 1951 (800 m and 1,500 m). The absolute high point of Barthel’s career was the 1952 Summer Olympics, where he surprised the crowd and himself by winning the 1,500 with a strong finish. He participated at the 1956 Olympics, after which he retired. He was Luxembourg champion in the 800 and 1,500 from 1946-56. From 1962-72 Barthel was president of the Luxembourg Athletics Federation and then from 1973-77 was the president of the Luxembourgish Olympic and Sporting Committee. He was also in the Luxembourg government, serving as Minister for Transport, Minister for Energy and Minister for the Environment from 1977-84.