Hans Schwarz

Hans Schwarz lived in Genève and competed mainly in heptathlon and decathlon events at domestic athletics competitions in the 1940s and 1950s. Winning the 400 metres hurdles competition at a regional event held at Fribourg and eventually the national title at the national championships in Zürich, both held in June 1952, he was named to the Swiss athletics team to compete at the Helsinki Olympics in the next month. There, he was one of two Swiss competitors in the 400 metres hurdles events, alongside Karl Schmid of Luzern. Schwarz finished third in his preliminary heat, barely edging out Fernando Fernandes of Portugal by 0.5 seconds, which qualified him for the quarter finals. He did not fare much better in the next round, finishing last in his heat by a gap of four seconds, which was won with an Olympic record set by eventual gold medallist Charlie Moore of the USA.

Personal Best: 400H – 53.8 (1952).