PEACHTREE CITY, USA – The 2024 Summer Olympics are upon us in Paris, which means millions have traveled to “The City of Light” to watch the games.
Most are familiar with popular Olympic sports such as swimming, diving, gymnastics, and basketball. However, few know that there was once an Olympic gold medal awarded for aeronautics.
During the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, a gold medal was awarded for the greatest aeronautic achievement in the preceding four years. It went to Switzerland’s Hermann Schreiber for his glider flight over the Alps, making him the first person to fly over the Alps in a glider without motorized assistance.
Other notable aeronautical feats took place during the Olympics itself. The Hindenburg, a zeppelin and the largest rigid airship ever constructed, hovered over the skies of Berlin painted with the Olympic rings. Additionally, the first public demonstration of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter jet took place.
World War II halted plans to expand aeronautics as an Olympic event, and it was officially discontinued in 1946.
Though aeronautics as an Olympic event never continued, the spirit of human achievement it represented lives on. Today, aviation plays a crucial role in the Olympics, from transporting athletes and fans, to facilitating global media coverage.
