Georges Miez

Georg Miez qualified for his first Olympics in 1924 when he finished second in the national trials. In total he competed in four Olympics and won eight medals, a record number of medals for Switzerland, equalled only by his teammate Eugen Mack. At the 1928 Games in Amsterdam Miez was the most successful athlete of all and at the 1932 Games in Los Angeles he was one of only five Swiss competitors and won the only medal for Switzerland.

Between the 1924 and 1928 Olympics he started his military career, but also worked as a gymnastics coach in the Netherlands and when he returned to Switzerland he worked in a sportswear company and developed his own gymnastics trousers. After the 1928 Olympics Miez moved to Chiasso in Ticino. In Chiasso he worked as a gymnastic teacher and was responsible for the lone sports program in town. Due to the world depression no Swiss team was sent to Los Angeles, but Miez elected to travel alone to compete, but also to bring home his brother, who had died in the United States some time before. At the 1932 Olympics Miez, who was only allowed to participate after a vote of the other nations competing in gymnastics, only competed in his favorite event, floor exercise, which was held for the first time at the Olympics. Disappointed and worried about the judging after winning only silver, he did not expect a fair competition, and withdrew from the Games, embarking on a trip through the US, where he also worked and held speeches at universities.

In 1934 Miez competed at his only World Championships, where he won gold on floor and with the team and silver in horizontal bar. In 1936 he finally also won Olympic gold on floor and retired after the Games. Miez then became Swiss national gymnastics coach for a short time and worked for the Red Cross during the Winter War in Finland. After World War II he founded some successful private schools, wrote sports medicine books, and also owned tennis courts and taught tennis. He stayed in Lugano for the rest of his life and died in 1999 aged 94 shortly after a stroke.