KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Bill Schmidt, an Olympian and longtime Knoxville resident who went on to a successful sports marketing career with brands like Gatorade and Oakley, has died. He was 78 years old.
Schmidt grew up in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania and joined the University of North Texas track program as a walk-on in 1966 before earning a scholarship. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1970 and was serving as a private when he went to the 1972 Olympics in Munich.
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He won a bronze medal in the javelin, making him the first North Texas athlete to win an Olympic medal and the last American to medal in the event. Schmidt earned a master’s degree in business education from the University of Tennessee in 1976 and served as a volunteer coach with the track & field team.
In 1982, Schmidt worked as the sports director for the World’s Fair in Knoxville. The role would launch his career in sports marketing. Two years later, he was the vice president of sports for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
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Schmidt spent 15 years as a marketing executive for Gatorade, helping grow the company into a global brand and sign Michael Jordan as a spokesperson. He spent a year as the CEO of Oakley before starting his own sports marketing and consulting firm, Pegasus…