Fritz Tschannen

Fritz Tschannen (13 May 1920 – 23 March 2011) was a Swiss accordion player and former ski jumper who competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz. Born in Saint-Imier,[1] he received his first accordion at the age of five and gave his first solo concert three years later. By the age of 18 he was working as an accordion teacher,[2] in addition to ski jumping out of Skiclub Adelboden.

Fritz Tschannen
Country  Switzerland
Born(1920-05-13)13 May 1920
Saint-Imier, Switzerland
Died23 March 2011(2011-03-23) (aged 90)
Val-de-Travers, Switzerland
Ski clubSC Adelboden
Personal best120 m (390 ft)
Planica, Yugoslavia
(15 March 1948)

Career

He joined the Swiss National Team in 1945 and attended the Winter Olympic Games three years later, where he placed ninth in a field of forty-nine competitors in the men's normal hill event. The same year he became the Swiss national champion.[1] On 15 March 1948 he set a new world record distance with a jump of 120 metres (394 ft) at Bloudkova velikanka hill in Planica, Yugoslavia.[3]

After his experience at the Olympics, Tschannen was invited to train with the United States team, but moved to Canada when he was denied a work visa because of the ongoing Korean War. He had a career with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from 1952–1954 as a musician and orchestrator, including a stint with his own French-language television show. He returned to his native country in 1964 and founded a musical school in the city of Bex. He worked as a conductor until 1999, when he retired to the municipality of Fleurier.[2] He died in Val-de-Travers in March 2011.[4]

Ski jumping world record
Date Hill Location Metres Feet
15 March 1948   Bloudkova velikanka K120 Planica, Yugoslavia 120 394
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References
  1. Gjerde, Arild; Jeroen Heijmans; Bill Mallon; Hilary Evans (June 2016). "Fritz Tschannen Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics. Sports Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  2. Reift, Marc. "Fritz Tschannen" (PDF). Editions Marc Reift. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
  3. "Lepi uspehi naših skakalcev v Planici, p.3" (in Slovenian). Slovenski poročevalec. 17 March 1948.
  4. "Tschannen, Fritz (1920-2011)". Dictionnaire de Jura. 2012-04-30. Retrieved 2013-03-22.


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