LAUSANNE – It is with profound sadness that we learned of the loss of Jack Günthard, who passed away at the age of 96.
Born on 8 January 1920 in Hirzel, Switzerland, Mr Jack Günthard was the most senior Summer Olympic champion.
Between 1983 and 1996 he served as the Chair of the FISU Technical Committee for artistic gymnastics, operating in no less than 7 Universiades.
This Olympic gymnastics champion (horizontal bar, Helsinki, 1952) made a name for himself in the seventies thanks to his TV programme “Fit with Jack”. He became famous very quickly at national level. He was also active on the radio (Radio Beromünster) with a daily programme dedicated to gymnastics between 7 and 8 in the morning.
In addition to his Olympic gold medal in Helsinki, Jack also won medals in World and European championships. He then served as the coach of the Italian team, training their athletes for the OG between 1960 and 1964. From 1965 to 1980 he was the coach of the Swiss gymnastics team.
Find out more about Jack in those short videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_KFKij0ZWA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFEEsU_hbnA