Willi Gebhardt

Willi Gebhardt is considered the pioneer of Olympism in Germany. He served as Secretary for the three temporary German Olympic Committees that sent athletes to the 1896, 1900, and 1904 Olympics, and served as team leader for each Olympics. He officiated at the 1904 Olympic Games in track & field athletics and rowing, and with Ferenc Kemény, was one of only two IOC Members to attend the 1904 Olympics. Gebhardt was co-opted onto the IOC in January 1896 and resigned in May 1909.

Gebhardt studied chemistry at the University of Marburg and the Friedrich-Wilhelm Universität in Berlin, later obtaining a doctorate in organic chemistry. He was a fencer in school and later helped found the German and Austrian Fencing Federation, serving as its first President. After school he and his brother managed the printing shop they inherited, but after five years Willi Gebhardt sold his share of the business and moved briefly to the United States. On his return to Germany he opened an urban thermal station in Karlsbad, partnered by Baron von Keisenberg, but he had little success in business.